President Anura Kumara Disanayake directed the District Secretaries to allocate Rs. 1,400 billion in recurrent expenditure for the implementation of productive projects at the grassroots level over the next eight months.

The President made these remarks during a discussion held with the District Secretaries, on Thursday (27) at the Presidential Secretariat.

The President also emphasized that by developing the rural economy, the country’s economic growth could be elevated by 3% to 4%. He stressed the need to enhance existing economic opportunities and identify new sources of growth during the expansion of the economy to rural areas.

The pension schemes proposed in the 2025 budget were also deliberated upon during this meeting.

Moreover, the President pointed out that there is a prevailing negative perception of the public sector and that inefficiency within government services has contributed to this situation. He underscored the necessity of creating satisfied and effective government officials, and emphasized the need to improve the efficiency of public services.

Currently, 30,000 vacancies have been identified within the public service, and the President stated that the government plans to recruit for these positions in categories, which would complete the mid-level staffing of the public service.

The President emphasized that development is not limited to constructing buildings and bridges but also involves uplifting the fractured social structure, a responsibility that primarily lies with the District Secretaries.

Additionally, the District Secretaries raised issues specific to their districts, which were brought to the President’s attention, and extensive discussions were held on possible solutions and proposals.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Dr. Chandana Abeyratne; Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration Aloka Bandara, as well as the District Secretaries.

A discussion on the current security situation in the country was held on Thursday (27) at the Presidential Secretariat between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and senior officials of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

The meeting focused on future security measures, with in-depth discussions on enhancing the Sri Lanka Air Force as a maritime security air force within the Indian Ocean region. The Air Force’s support for operations conducted by the Sri Lanka Army and Navy was also extensively deliberated.

Additionally, the meeting addressed the budgetary allocations for the Air Force in the latest national budget, as well as the current requirements of the force.

The discussion was attended by Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekara, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, Air Force Commander Air Marshal Bandu Edirisinghe, and several other senior Air Force officials.

A Development Partner Dialogue (Donor Conference) related to the “Clean Sri Lanka” program, a key government initiative, was held on Thursday (27) at the Presidential Secretariat with the aim of adopting an approach to secure contributions for the said program.

The primary objective of the conference was to gather proposals and support from participating representatives for the “Clean Sri Lanka” program.

The Development Partner Dialogue, jointly organized by the United Nations and the Presidential Secretariat under the leadership of Marc-Andre Franche United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, was held under three main sessions.

Several diplomatic missions, including the British High Commission, Australian High Commission, Canadian High Commission, Indian High Commission, and the embassies of Japan, China, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, attended the event. Additionally, key international development partners, such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International Monetary Fund (IMF), were also present.

Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Employment and Tourism, and its affiliated departments participated in the discussions.