President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a number of public services as essential services under the Essential Public Services Act No. 61 of 1979 through an Extraordinary Gazette issued on Thursday (28).
The gazette states that the order was issued considering the need to maintain normal public life amid the prevailing post-disaster situation across the country.
According to the gazette notification, the declaration applies to services provided by state corporations, government departments, local authorities, cooperative societies and their branches.
The essential services include electricity supply, fuel and gas distribution, hospital and healthcare services, public transport, road and railway services, airport and port operations, water supply and drainage services, food and essential goods distribution, ambulance services, telecommunications and media services.
Services carried out by District Secretariats, Divisional Secretariats, Grama Niladharis, Samurdhi officers, agricultural research assistants and other field-level public officers have also been declared essential services.
The gazette further includes state banking and insurance services, sanitation and waste management services by local authorities, irrigation services, land reclamation and development services, and agricultural and agricultural insurance services.
The Extraordinary Gazette was issued under the authority vested in the President by Section 2 of the Essential Public Services Act. (Newswire)
