Govt. justifies appointment of 38 State Ministers

• Acting Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana claims no additional cost, only work burden of Cabinet Ministers is shared
• Says no budget allocated for State Ministers
• Ministry Additional Secretaries will be assigned for State Ministers

Acting Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana

The Government yesterday justified the appointment of the 38 State Ministers, citing they are sharing the overwhelmed work burden of the Cabinet Ministers, without causing any additional State expenditure.

“There is no budget allocated for the State Ministers. They are working with the allocated funds assigned for the main Ministry,” Acting Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

The appointment of 38 new State Ministers in addition to the 20 Cabinet Ministers by President Ranil Wickremesinghe last week, was widely condemned by civil society and the Opposition. The move by the President also backfired on his earlier statements of curbing the State expenditure, to enhance relief to people who have been suffering for months due to the ongoing economic crisis.

Dr. Pathirana said the Cabinet Ministers are already overwhelmed with work, as one Minister holds simultaneous responsibility for several portfolios. 

“There is no question about the workload and that is why we wanted to appoint State Ministers to share the work burden. However, these appointments did not involve an additional cost. They will be maintained with the allocated funds for the Ministry,” he explained.

He cited Minister Bandula Gunawardana as an example of overwhelmed work, noting that he has three portfolios of Information, Transport, and Highways to be looked into. 

In his defence, the Acting Cabinet Spokesman recalled that the Yahapalana Government during the 2015-2019 period also had around 100 Cabinet and State Ministers.

When pointed out by journalists that the new 38 State Ministers were not assigned with Secretaries, Dr. Pathirana said that Additional Secretaries of the Ministries will be linked to them.

“Those Secretaries who were assigned previously to the State Ministers were functioning as Additional Secretaries to the Ministries. Similarly, the Additional Secretaries will be linked to the new State Ministers to carry out the duties,” he stressed.

However, many claimed President Wickremesinghe’s move to appoint more Ministers was a compromise to retain support for him in the Parliament, as his party has only one seat.