• Malpractice/fraud/corruption/irregularities among some officials 

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the Government has received reports of certain public officials misusing the current independence afforded by the Government, and that henceforth, no form of malpractice, fraud, or corruption will be tolerated, with maximum possible action being taken by the Government in this regard.

The Premier made these remarks while attending the ceremony to award appointments to 1,890 officers who were selected from the open competitive examination and subsequent interviews for recruitment to Grade III of the Administrative Service. She further stated: “Although this examination was scheduled to be held in November 2020, it was delayed for four years due to restrictions on open recruitment to the public service. Currently, there are about 5,000 vacancies in the said service. This examination was conducted following the Cabinet of Ministers’ decision to fill 2,223 vacancies in the service. Accordingly, nearly 1,890 new officers are joining the public service. Recruitment was based strictly on district quotas allocated according to the 2020 district population ratio and the candidates who scored the highest marks at the written examination were selected in proper order of merit and were interviewed by the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and Local Government with complete transparency. Cabinet approval has also been granted to recruit the remaining officers.”