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Ministry Secretaries should take firm and swift decisions in carrying out programmes to provide relief to the people and reducing the cost of living, President Maithripala Sirisena said. Addressing ministry secretaries at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday, the President emphasised that a major responsibility is cast on Ministry Secretaries to drive efficiency into the government’s development programme.

New proposals to increase government revenue, creation of new income avenues, contribution towards the national economy and the programme undertaken towards expenditure management in state institutions gained special attention during this meeting, the President’s Media Unit said.

The President emphasised the need for Ministries to conduct a streamlined public relations exercise. He said pride of place should be given towards addressing people’s problems and needs. He said every ministry should maintain a website and constantly update its work, development projects and their progress as well as other relevant information.

The meeting also reviewed the contribution made by Ministries towards the government’s prime development programmes including the ‘Gramashakthi, Gamperaliya’, Enterprise Sri Lanka national food production and national tree planting programmes.

During this meeting, the President emphasized that Ministry Secretaries have to play a vital role in making the development process of the government efficient.The progress of the development programmes implemented at Ministirial level was reviewed in this meeting.

It was also discussed regarding the programmes implemented to present new proposals to promote the government’s revenue, creation of new paths to receive income, the contribution to the national economy and the expenditure management of state institutions. 

President Maithripala Sirisena is scheduled to leave for Nepal today (28th) on an official visit to participate in the BIMSTEC Summit. The fourth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 30 - 31 August. Nepal is the current chair of BIMSTEC.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, in accordance with Section 4 (12) of the Provincial Councils (Amendment) Act No. 17 of 2017, has appointed a five-member committee. The Committee appointed to make recommendations to hold provincial elections will be chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

President Maithripala Sirisena says there is no differentiation or discrimination in the development of the country and the responsibility of delivering development benefits for the people living in the Northern and Eastern provinces will be fulfilled.

President Maithripala Sirisena says that the present government has taken steps to establish a strong foundation for the free and fair elections in the country through the 19th amendment to the constitution while ending the corruption that prevailed in the election system of the country before 8th of January, 2015.