The program carried out by the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has led to an increase in the efficiency of the public sector in Sri Lanka, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
According to a statement from the Parliament of Sri Lanka, commending the COPA’s performance, the President expressed his gratitude to its Chair State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, and all who worked towards it.
The President made the remarks while participating in the gold and silver award ceremony for 65 institutions that achieved high performance levels in 2019 and 2020 according to the reports of the Committee on Public Accounts.
The said awarding ceremony was held yesterday (18) under the patronage of the President, Ranil Wickremesinghe and the participation of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana.
Speaking further, the President stated that a green economy, driving the economy ahead through digitization and innovation cannot be done through outdated means. He also emphasized the need for all government institutions to work as one unit with one goal and one plan.
In his address, the President emphasized the significance of digitalization, innovation, and the need for unified efforts to drive economic progress. He called for effective control of public expenditure, maximizing value, boosting revenues, and strengthening the country’s economy through a robust administrative mechanism.
Furthermore, the President underlined the importance of joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and expanding relations with India as essential steps toward building a strong economy.
During the ceremony, the Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, Lasantha Alagiyawanna commended all successful government institutions and highlighted that over 98 per cent of them had made significant progress since 2015
The public accounting system, financial control and performance of the State, Provincial Councils and local government bodies are evaluated annually by the computer network system developed by the Department of Information Systems and Management of the Parliament and implemented under the guidance of the Committee on Public Accounts. Accordingly, the Auditor General analyzes, and the government institutions which showed high performance as per the investigation and evaluations were awarded.
Accordingly, 833 government institutions were evaluated, and for the year 2019, 15 selected institutions were given gold awards and 30 institutions were given silver awards, and for 2020, 15 selected institutions were given gold awards and 30 institutions were given silver awards, totalling 90 awards each. The presentation of awards was presided over by the President.
Accordingly, awards were presented under the categories of main Expenditure Units of Government, Government Ministries, Government Departments, District Secretariats, Provincial Council Funds, Provincial Ministries / Departments / Special Expenditure Units, Provincial Authorities, Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Provincial Councils.
Based on the concept of the Committee on Public Accounts of the Eighth Parliament, the Evaluation Program for State, Provincial Council and Local Government Institutions started in the year 2016 based on the 2015 fiscal year, with the aim of streamlining the finances and performance of the government institutions.
More than 1000 government institutions including Ministries, Departments, Provincial Councils and Divisional Secretariats joined the award ceremony through Zoom technology.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse, Chief Organizer of the Opposition Lakshman Kiriella, Prime Minister’s Secretary Anura Dissanayake, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Mahinda Sirwardena, Auditor General W. P. C. Wickramaratne, Secretary General of the Parliament Kushani Anusha Rohanadeera were present at the event. (NewsWire)