Amendments made by the Public Service Commission to clauses on the efficiency bar exam and no-pay leave for trade union representation of the Establishments Code (Gazette Extraordinary- 1539/3) have attracted widespread criticism from opposition politicians and trade unions.

Opposition politicians have been using this issue as a political slogan in the Western Provincial Council election. The government immediately responded by cancelling the amendments. But a gazette notification to this effect was not released. The opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe countered that the President or the Cabinet could not overrule a PSC decision. Contradictorily he also maintained that the PSC decision was not legal as it was appointed in the absence of the constitutional council. Now the government feels cornered and justifies the amendments. My question is "Do we really need a government servant who fails his EB exam in six attempts in three years?

The PSC decision to amend the EC was apolitical and was based solely in the interests of better public service. The politicians are trying to politicize an apolitical decision of the PSC for their personal gain.

We have one million public servants for a population of nearly twenty million- a ratio of one to twenty. Yet our public service is having a free fall against the standards we hope to achieve for many obvious reasons.

Most of our public servants sign in late and sign out early in offices. Is there any alternative other than the introduction of finger print machines to solve this problem?

The Establishments Code guarantees the government servants’ stay in the public service till retirement whether they pass the efficiency bar exam or not. How can a confirmed inefficient officer provide a better public service? Is there any alternative other than the amendment of the EC to see them off?

The promotion system hitherto adopted for government servants is a buy-one-get-two-free system. All Island Services (Parallel Services) are the core of the public service. If you are recruited to class three of these services, the promotions to class two and class one are automatic. Their seniority list is updated on the computer and the top slots will be getting the promotions. Seniority is the sole yardstick of efficiency in these services.

Because of this stupid system of promotion, the officers who are EC illiterate (Establishments Code), FR illiterate (Financial Regulations), English illiterate, IT illiterate, poor readers and even some with serious problem in first language comprehension have ended up as Divisional Secretaries, Zonal Education Officers, Heads of Department, Ambassadors and Secretaries to Ministries and this has seriously affected the efficiency of the public service.

Education Minister Susil Premajayantha once publicly commented that from Zonal Education Offices to Isurupaya (Ministry of Education) there was a breakdown of administration. His statement has serious implications. Around 200 SLEAS Class-1 officers are the decision makers of the MOE. They are the Zonal Directors of Education, they are the Provincial Directors of Education, they are Commissioners General of Publications and Examinations and they are the Additional Secretaries of Education. Therefore I think by his statement the Minister held responsible these officers for the breakdown of administration in his Ministry. Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohana identified seniority based promotion as one of the weaknesses of the Foreign Service and promised that he would make it merit based.

But any attempt to make the public service efficient is resisted politically because our politicians’ concern is only the vote bank. They would stoop to any low level for another term in politics. As the Editor of The Island once put it, the only thing our parliamentarians seem to agree on unanimously, is their perks. If anyone wants to better understand our politicians, a must read is The Island Editorials.

I hope the Government’s genuine attempts to make the public service efficient will continue without hindrance.