Public service reform takes centre stage as K.D. Lalkantha tells new Survey Field Assistants to restore dignity and end delays.
Public service reform was the central message as Minister K.D. Lalkantha told newly appointed Survey Field Assistants that the government had done its part, and that the responsibility now rests with them.
The ceremony to award appointment letters to Survey Field Assistants of the Sri Lanka Survey Department was held at the Survey Department under the patronage of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation, K.D. Lalkantha.
Out of 570 candidates who sat for the examination, appointment letters were awarded for 71 Survey Field Assistant positions. These appointments were made covering all districts of the island, and the officers are expected to be attached to relevant areas according to existing vacancies.
Addressing the gathering, Minister Lalkantha said the government had fulfilled its responsibility by making the appointments properly, and that the new officers must now perform their duties with discipline, honesty, and respect for the people.
“We did our part. Now it’s your turn. Do your job properly,” the Minister said.
He recalled that there was once a time when public servants were deeply respected in villages and communities. If there was a public servant in a village, that person was treated with honour and regard.
But he said that era had changed.
According to Lalkantha, after the 1960s, the public service began to crumble, and state institutions also weakened. He noted that only a few state institutions have shown meaningful change over time, including certain improvements within the state banking system.
The Minister said that even today, some state institutions fail to complete work on time. In some places, he said, work still gets done only if a bribe is paid.
He added that citizens who visit public offices continue to face harassment, poor treatment, and an attitude among some officials that they are above the people.
That mindset, he warned, must change.
“This must change. That is your responsibility,” Lalkantha told the new appointees.
The Minister said the government is attempting to repair the political side of the system, but added that several areas need to be corrected. One of those, he said, is politics itself.
He noted that politicians, like public servants, were also once respected. But just as the public service collapsed, politics too had collapsed.
“That is the truth,” he said.
Lalkantha said politics must accept the main responsibility for this breakdown. When politics becomes a means of earning a living, when appointments are used to collect votes, and when deserving people are denied their rightful place, the entire public service becomes corrupted from the beginning.
He explained that a person who receives an appointment through ministerial influence enters the public service with a different mindset. Instead of respecting the public service first, that person begins by respecting the minister who helped secure the appointment.
The Minister said this culture must be changed, and added that officials are making a major effort to correct it.
He emphasized that there was no political interference in the appointments given at the ceremony.
“When giving these appointments, we did not interfere in any way. There was no political interference,” he said.
Lalkantha said that if political interference had taken place, officers would begin to think that those who came to change politics were also behaving in the same old way.
He added that if the process had followed the old political culture, all the appointees would have been sent to the Kandy District, because Kandy is his electorate.
“That’s how it used to be,” he said.
The Minister also said that receiving a public service appointment is a major strength in a person’s life. It brings dignity to personal life and creates a level of stability.
However, he criticized the attitude of some newly recruited officers who demand appointments only to locations they personally requested.
He described this as a strange attachment to the public service.
Lalkantha reminded the new recruits that, under public service rules, a first appointment must be accepted in the place to which the officer is assigned.
He also warned them not to run to the Minister seeking transfers immediately after receiving their appointment.
The ceremony was attended by Surveyor General Mrs. P.K.L.S. Paduwawala, other officials of the Survey Department, and the newly appointed officers.
