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“ I am not going to tolerate corruption in the State sector,” President Chandrika Bandanaike Kumaratunga said at a discussion yesterday, adding that Over 40 per cent of the funds allocated for development was consumed in wastage, inefficiency and corruption by the state sector. Addressing a discussion with senior members of the public service under the theme “The role of the public service and challenges of development of the 21st century" at the BMICH yesterday, she said that if there was no wastage, inefficiency and corruption in the state sector, the Government would have been able to provide a fourfold salary increase to the members of the public service. The country would also have been one of the most developed in the region if that was so, she said. The President also said that promotions and increments for the public sector in the future would strictly be based on merit while less weightage would be given for seniority. " It will be 60 per cent for merit and 40 per cent for seniority.", she said. " We must have an ideological revolution in the sphere of public administration," she said. " I remember how I addressed a similar conference for public servants also at the BMICH soon after the Government assuming office in 1994. This conference is to inform the public service as to what light the Government sees the public service in.” “ In a developing country such as Sri Lanka, the public service should cater to the needs of the people and also be supportive to the Government in power, irrespective of who is in power. Public officials owe it to the public as their salaries and other benefits are paid by the people. Actions of the members of the public service should be to lead the people in the forward march of the nation. It is up to the public service to implement the policies of the Head of State and the Government.” “Obligations of Governments vary from era to era and it is time that we fulfil our obligations to the people without any malice. Public servants should not be sitting in air-conditioned rooms kicking their heels but should ensure that all the development needs of the people are met.” “The Sri Lankan Public Service needs dramatic changes from the times of the British where public servants were mere Divisional Revenue Officers (DRO), collecting funds for the running of the Government. The administrative structures during the British time were limited as their operations were limited to plundering the resources of the country through the private sector mechanism.” “The public sector needs to adapt itself to the growing needs of modern times such as information technology. Government servants should make use of the state of the art technology that is available through computers to process the information that they need for development work. Computers are not mere typewriters only.”
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