1919 is well known throughout the country now: Minister Siyambalapitiya

Friday, 26 September 2014 00:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

1919, the number for the Government Information Centre is now popular throughout Sri Lanka and influences the lives of nearly everyone in the country, Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said. The minister made these comments at a media briefing organised by the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka on 24 September to mark eight years of the information centre number’s use. “1919 comes to the mind of everyone now even involuntarily. When anyone wants to know about a service that has to be obtained from the public sector, automatically his or her mind goes to 1919,“ the minister said. Speaking further at the event - which was held at the Sri Lanka Telecom PLC head office at Lotus Road - the minister commented: “1919 was launched according to a concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to bring the public service close to the people. The historic launch took place on 24 August 2006. During the last eight years, 1919 has provided a great service marked by above-average courteousness and professionalism, maintaining a standard with no room for complaint. ICTA and SLT contributed much to this.” Telecommunication and Information Technology Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Jayaratne, ICTA Chairman Senior Presidential Secretary and Peradeniya University Chancellor Professor P. W. Epasinghe, ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura, SLT Group CEO Lalith de Silva and SLT board members were also present at the event. SLT Group CEO Lalith de Silva said: “1919 - GIC receives more than 1.5 lakhs of telephone calls per month. I can justly say that we have been able to respond to 95% of the total number of calls requesting government information within 15 seconds. The call-response performance of the last month amounts to 98.18%.” De Silva added that the Contact Centre promoted bringing government services closer to the public by providing accurate information and that 1919 - GIC had the facilities necessary to provide services to organisations in Sri Lanka and in foreign countries. ICTA Program Specialist Thushara Suraweera took the audience through a comprehensive presentation highlighting various aspects of 1919-GIC. “The GIC now provides more than 65 online services through basic phone calls, such as train schedules, job opportunities abroad, flight schedules, exam results, economic indicators, medical services and contact details,” he said.