Ministry Secretaries should take firm and swift decisions in carrying out programmes to provide relief to the people and reducing the cost of living, President Maithripala Sirisena said. Addressing ministry secretaries at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday, the President emphasised that a major responsibility is cast on Ministry Secretaries to drive efficiency into the government’s development programme.
New proposals to increase government revenue, creation of new income avenues, contribution towards the national economy and the programme undertaken towards expenditure management in state institutions gained special attention during this meeting, the President’s Media Unit said.
The President emphasised the need for Ministries to conduct a streamlined public relations exercise. He said pride of place should be given towards addressing people’s problems and needs. He said every ministry should maintain a website and constantly update its work, development projects and their progress as well as other relevant information.
The meeting also reviewed the contribution made by Ministries towards the government’s prime development programmes including the ‘Gramashakthi, Gamperaliya’, Enterprise Sri Lanka national food production and national tree planting programmes.
During this meeting, the President emphasized that Ministry Secretaries have to play a vital role in making the development process of the government efficient.The progress of the development programmes implemented at Ministirial level was reviewed in this meeting.
It was also discussed regarding the programmes implemented to present new proposals to promote the government’s revenue, creation of new paths to receive income, the contribution to the national economy and the expenditure management of state institutions.
Furthermore, steps had been taken to appoint an Additional Secretary for each Ministry to evaluate and implement the bilateral agreements entered into during the official visits of the President to foreign countries and during this meeting the progress of those tasks were also reviewed.
The President pointed out the need to maintain a systematic way of public relations and emphasized on the importance of giving prominence for the grievances and requests of the people. He said that it is mandatory that on Wednesdays the Secretaries of all the Ministries should be in their offices to meet the public.
Moreover, President stressed the importance of every ministry to maintain a website and constantly interrelate the information regarding the official duties of the ministry, and the development plans launched.
The contribution made by the ministries on the most prominent projects of the government, namely Grama Shakthi, Gam Peraliya, Enterprise Sri Lanka, National Food Production Program, National Tree-planting Program were also finalized.
The President said that it is the duty of the Secretaries of the Ministries to reduce the living cost of people and provide people with benefits by taking efficient and necessary decisions within the programs to provide the public with a better livelihood.
Secretary to the President Udaya R. Seneviratne was also present in the event.
