COLOMBO: The dearth of public officers with proficiency in Tamil has hampered the development projects in the country in general and in the east in particular. This will be one of the greater problems when the government launches its resettlement and rehabilitation programmes in the north after the liberation of the province shortly by the armed forces, Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister Karu Jayasuriya observed.

Minister Jayasuriya made these observations when he addressed 830 new recruits to the public service at a function held at the John De Silva Memorial Theatre recently.

"Tamils have the right to get their work done in their mother tongue. It is a drawback for the smooth functioning of the state administration and a weakness on the part of the government if they could not get it done. As a solution to this deficiency the government has made it compulsory for the Sinhala public officers to learn Tamil and Tamil officers to learn Sinhala which has proved a success," Minister Jayasuriya said.

It is up to the new appointees to the public service to exploit the opportunity given to them to learn an alternative language and provide a better service to the public.
The new recruits have an advantage which was not enjoyed by their predecessors. It is the new technology. All public officers are required to provide an efficient service using computers and software, he stressed.

Home Affairs Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera said the objective of the government is to improve the quality of service in the public sector.

The government's policy is to recruit public servants through a competitive examination. The new recruits had been selected in a transparent recruitment method and solely on merit. Their appointments and transfers will also be done in the same manner, he said.