Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath says that public employees should consider the people as their employers and ensure that they perform their duties efficiently as the people pay salaries to the officers who join the public service through free education.
“There are 1.4 million public servants in this country. There is one public servant for every 15 people. But the perception of the people about the public service has not changed. The public service is now physically advanced but needs to be further developed in terms of attitude. I do not accept the fact that the public service is inefficient. The public service is efficient. However, due to the actions of certain institutions and officials, people have a negative attitude towards public service.
Public servants are those who study in free education in our country and are paid by the people. Therefore, the people should be treated as employers of public servants. The majority of those who enter the public service are well versed in the rural environment and culture, so you have a responsibility to identify the problems of the people and solve them.
Although the working hours of public servants are from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm, we have to dedicate our time to the maximum for the country and the people. No matter where you are in Sri Lanka, serve honestly and sincerely, not only for friends, relatives, or acquaintances but also for everyone. I was never limited to eight hours of work.
When you go to an institution, work for the people, for the country, in collaboration with the mamager and the other officials, and work in a new way, not being a traditional public servant, subject to tradition. Many do not want to change the tradition. Try to work out of tradition without creating conflicts. Most of the time when I work I make a policy. That a person who comes to the institution for a problem will not be brought in more than twice. You have to work to solve that problem as much as possible. As public servants, you must be humane. You must be a good listener. It is also important to make the environment you work in a pleasant place.
Going beyond tradition, I was able to make the Department of Immigration and Emigration an efficient place to issue a passport in one day. Consider the issues that people bring as your own issues. People’s representatives are people who represent the people, so public servants have to work with people’s representatives. Commit to provide a fair service for the people and the country beyond your salary ”
Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath said this at an awareness program held at Temple Trees to educate the officers who have passed the open section examination of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service and are about to enter the Public Administration Service.
Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Service, Provincial Councils and Local Government JJ Ratnasiri, Additional Secretaries to the Prime Minister Harsha Wijewardena, Attorney-at-Law Chaminda Kularatne, Nishantha Weerasinghe, Director General of the Sri Lanka Institute of Administrative Development Pradeepa Serasinghe, Councilors And officials from the Ministry of Local Government, the Institute of Administrative Development and officials from the Public Administration Service were also present at the event.
