Govt. on major drive to recruit 20,000 graduates by year end

• Recruitment to happen in batches 
• Project to continue in 2019 Rs. 4.8 billion to pay allowances for a year 

In a bid to pacify the protesting graduates, the Government this week decided to recruit 20,000 graduates for a year-long training program with guaranteed job placement upon completion. 

Under the program designed by the Ministry of National Policies and Economic affairs, headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, each trainee will be paid an allowance of Rs. 20,000 per month, totalling to Rs. 4.8 billion for 2018 recruits. 

The first recruitment will take place in July, and the second stage is scheduled to be in September. 

“We plan to recruit the graduates in stages. During the first stage, we will recruit 5000, which will be followed up by a recruitment of another 15,000 later this year. They will be placed as development officers in different Government departments following the training. The jobs given will be permanent State sector jobs with pension and other benefits,” National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry Secretary K. D. S. Ruwanchandra told Daily FT. 

According to him, there are 20,000 unfilled development officer vacancies in the Government sector currently. 

According to the Cabinet paper presented by the Prime Minister, all recruitments will be under the Development Officer Service Minutes.

The third stage of the recruitment program will be implemented in 2019, Ruwanchandra said. 

“We have not decided the numbers yet. It will be decided only after discussions with the Treasury, and will depend on the cadre requirement for the Government next year,” he said. 

The move comes after the Unemployed Graduates Association staged a number of protests during the past few weeks, demanding jobs for over 50,000 graduates who have joined the labour force since 2012.