It has been noted that the provisions of the Industry Promotion Act No. 46 of 1990 existing at present are not sufficient to compile industry policies that enable fulfilling the contemporary requirements in the fields of technical, trade, skills, and environment in the industry sector. Therefore, approval has been granted to amend the said Act at the cabinet meeting held on 08-03-2021.

At present, the legal draftsman is in the process of amending the said Act, and the legal draftsman has shown the necessity of obtaining the policy consent of the present cabinet of ministers for the function of amending the Act.

Accordingly, taking into consideration the proposal presented by the Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to grant the policy consent for the expeditious completion of the function of preparation of the said draft.

Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 11.01.2021 to amend the Tea Control Act No. 51 of 1957 including the following particulars:

• An introduction of a definition as “Reclaimable Tea” to the disposed portion of tea after categorizing at the process of production in tea factories.

• Naming the portion remaining as Refuse Tea after further extracting processed tea from the reclaimable tea.

• Registration of tea processors, issuance of licenses for them and administration of them. And including other legal provisions affecting them

The Legal Draftsman is proceeding with the amendments to this act by now and has pointed out the requirement of obtaining the approval of the present Cabinet of Ministers.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to complete the bill drafting process as soon as possible, considering the proposal furnished by the Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution forwarded by the Prime Minister to grant approval to the relevant Ministries and the institutions to make the following requirements recommended by the committee appointed for reviewing the recruitment procedure of the government service and manage the staffs.

1. Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation  – 909
2. Ministry of Women and Child Affairs – 09
3. Ministry of Environment  – 144
4. Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs   – 2,500
5. Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education   – 22
6. Ministry of Science and Technology  – 03
7. Ministry of Finance, Plan Implementation and Economic Development -185
8. Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Marine Resources   – 20
9. Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Governments –  1,615
10. Central Provincial Council – 72
11. Uva Provincial Council – 303