The Minister of Health and Mass Media Nalinda Jayatissa said that the government is not afraid of groups that are threatening to leave the country in the hope of higher salaries and demanding privileges.
The Minister said this while participating in a ceremony to grant appointments to newly recruited health assistant officers in the Ministry of Health.
The Minister, who further expressed his views at the event, stated that the government will take steps in the future to provide the necessary facilities to those who understand the economic difficulties of the country and commit to serving the country by taking advantage of free education.
He also said that those who remain in the country and serve are more important to the government than those who are demanding privileges and saying that they are leaving the country.
The Minister pointed out that the current government has abandoned the method of forcing thousands of people into the public service based on political expediency, as was the case during previous administrations.
Instead, he stated that a committee headed by the Prime Minister’s Secretary will identify the real needs of the institutions and make recruitments according to a formal plan.
The Health and Mass Media Ministries have received approval to recruit about 10,000 new people to the public service in the past 12 months, of which more than 8,000 have already been recruited.
Minister Nalinda Jayatissa further stated that after entering the public service, one should get used to a responsible professional life rather than a normal free life, and that the political authority is also bound by a similar responsibility.