Development Officers recruited

by Dhaneshi Yatawara

Commencing next week the Economic Development Ministry will launch a special training program for the newly recruited graduates of the Ministry. It will be a two-week training course for 15,596 graduates recruited as Development Officers and assigned to Divisional Secretariats islandwide. Senior Officers of the Ministry will be assigned as resource persons to train the new recruits.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa addressing the resource persons said recruiting such a large number of educated youth to the public service simultaneously was not a burden on the State, but a great benefit. "It is the duty of both people's representatives and senior State officials to utilise the services of the new recruits for economic progress," Minister Rajapaksa said.

The Minister said the duty of the Development Officers will be to take the lead to eradicate poverty by economically empowering the individual and thereby the family and the village in accordance with the Mahinda Chinthana manifesto.

Seventy one percent of the total number of trainees are women while 29 percent are men.

The aim of the training course is to give them a basic knowledge of working as facilitators in implementing rural development programs to eradicate poverty by strengthening the family and the village. The trainees will be given a comprehensive knowledge of the Divi Neguma National Program at the two week residential workshops held in three stages in 16 centres across the country.