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The Ministerial burden on the State

09 Sep 2022

A total of 37 new State Ministers were sworn in at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (8), under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, further expanding the number of Ministries under the new Government.  Among these portfolios are State Ministers for the areas of foreign employment promotion, finance, transport, Provincial Councils and Local Government, agriculture, sports and youth affairs, plantation industries, power and energy, water supply, investment promotion, piriven education, highways, mass media, technology, economic development and housing, defence, urban development and housing, foreign affairs, justice and prisons reforms, trade, indigenous medicine, fisheries, small and medium scale enterprise development, conservation of wildlife and forest reserves, livestock development, irrigation, health, rural economy, home affairs, education, women and child affairs, rural road development, higher education, tourism, primary industries, and social empowerment. One thing that cannot go unnoticed when looking at the new State Ministerial portfolios is that despite the dire situation of the economy and of Government expenditure, the Government has created some portfolios that are not really a pressing need and can easily be managed under an existing Ministry. The State Ministry of Piriven Education, which can be managed by the Ministry of Buddhasasana or the Ministry of Education, is a good example. At the same time, some State Ministries can easily come under one Ministry – examples being the State Ministries of Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Development and Primary Industries, and the State Ministries of Rural Road Development and Rural Economy. Given the state of the economy, it would have been ideal had the Government decided to bring the State Ministries of Water Supply and Irrigation under one Ministry, and they have been successfully managed by one Ministry in the past under previous Governments. Given the dire situation of the economy, the number of State Ministers, or the number of any officers in the public sector for that matter, is indeed a pressing matter due to the massive expenses associated with ministries. In fact, how much the Government spends on Ministers, their staff and offices, among other expenses, has been a major topic for many years. At a time where it is crucial to save every cent possible, appointing new State Ministers in an unscientific manner is unacceptable. Needless to say, it goes against the President’s promises with regard to rebuilding the economy with cost cutting measures as one of the main measures.  The fact that having an unnecessarily high number of Ministers, both Cabinet and non-Cabinet Ministers, is not a new issue that Sri Lanka is facing, begs the question as to whether the political authority is not willing to wean itself off its apparent addiction to appointing Ministers with no consideration about whether those Ministerial portfolios are absolutely necessary. Being this inconsiderate at a time when the country is going through the worst economic crisis since Independence is alarming. If they do not see this as a situation serious enough to rectify their weaknesses, we can only wonder whether they will ever learn. The Government keeps asking the people to tighten their belts. It has asked public sector workers to go abroad for employment, while the state of the private sector remains precarious. To save money, it has also banned the importation of many necessary imported goods, declaring them as non-essential. If the Government is this serious about saving money when it comes to matters that affect the general public, why is it just preaching, not practising, the same theory when it comes to the lawmakers? It seems to be declaring unnecessary actions as necessary.  This is not the way to rebuild a collapsed economy. The top level of the Government should not be exempted from the sacrifices that ordinary people are being forced to make; on the contrary, it is the top level that should set the example for ordinary citizens.


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