The government also took over the private enterprises which were running at a loss and ensured their improvement added Minister Rajapaksa and recalled that all previous governments had undertaken to prune the state service numerically in collaboration with the International Monetory Fund, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. But President Mahinda Rajapaksa deviated from this process further said the Minister.
The Minister expressed these observations on Monday (22) at Kalutara Vernon Fernando Esplanade while distributing 3985 motor cycles among technical officers in the Kalutara District.
He also said “Our economy was in a weak state of affairs when we took over. Land extent had been reduced on one hand and there was a terrible dispute on the other. Trade balance was at a lower ebb. Not only that, our foreign exchange reserve was diminishing and was not adequate even for two weeks. Like in our country, most countries in the world had commenced the process of privatizing state agencies. It had been planned to privatize production and transmission of electricity, Insurance, Transport system etc., But the President turned it upside down through his policy statement, Mahinda Chinthana Vision for the Future.
Now International Organizations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank have fallen in line with these principles and have agreed to grant credit to strengthen the public service. Other countries in the world have followed suit and taking action to strengthen the public service in their countries.
Minister Rajapaksa added that the President took steps not only to conserve public service, but also took action to widen the horizon of public service and restore lost rights of the public servants and grant new rights as well, diverting the total financial policies towards this direction. The Minister further stated that this distribution of motor cycles is a token of sensitiveness the President has toward the public service, his attitude towards them and indicates the direction in which the state service is presently geared to.
A host of people’s Representatives including Mahinda Samarasinghe, Rohitha Abegunawardhana, Reginald Cooray, Vidura Wickramanayake, Janaka Banadara and a host of state officials including Kalutara District Secretary were among the large gathering present on this occasion.(KH/SI)
