Finance Ministry says 31,500 promotions for Policemen soon

• Move includes promotion for constables and inspectors
• Of the 85,000 Policemen, 31,540 are constables and inspectors
• Finance Ministry denies reports on Minister’s involvement 

The Government has decided to promote over 31,000 Police officers in the near future, the Finance Ministry, issuing a statement, said yesterday.

“The Management Services Department of the Ministry of Finance is in the process of working out a mechanism to promote constables to positions up to Chief Inspectors of Police despite the existing cadre positions in the Police Department,” the statement said.

Currently, the Department of Police has a staff of over 85,000 Policemen, yet 31,540 of them are in the positions of constables and inspectors. In March, the Department of Police has requested that the Management Services Department of the Treasury, through the Ministry of Defence, prepare a mechanism to promote, especially, its majority Police constables despite the limitations in its cadre positions. “This request has been made to the Management Services Department with the recommendations of the Police Commission, which is in charge of promotions, transfers and disciplinary action of the Police Department,” the statement said. Accordingly, the obligation of approving the staff recruitment procedure, Scheme of Recruitment, including salaries in the public sector, and semi-government sector, lies with the Department of Management Services of the Ministry of Finance. 

It was noted that the Management Services Department had already held discussions with the relevant officials of the Police Department regarding this matter.

“The Management Services Department of the Finance Ministry has accepted at policy level the need to promote Police constables to positions up to Chief Inspector of Police without taking into consideration the number of existing vacancies involving those positions. As further details are required to take decisions to implement these proposals, the Salaries and Cadre Commission has requested the Department of Police to send the necessary details,” the statement said. However, the letter sent to the Police Department in last June had not been replied to so far, the Ministry said. “As the Government has already taken a policy decision to promote the Police officers, soon after the details required from the Department of Police are received, the promotion of over 31,000 Police officers could be carried out once the approval of the Management Services Department is given,” the Finance Ministry said.

The Finance Ministry, in the statement, also categorically denied some reports published by certain media, quoting Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, that there is no money to promote Police constables in the Department of Police, noting that such reports were misleading the general public.

The request made by the Department of Police from the relevant sectors to promote the constables was subject to discussion by the Management Services Department of the Treasury under ordinary administrative procedure.

“No Minister is involved in this matter as it comes under the ordinary administrative procedure,” the Finance Ministry statement said.

Further, it said that Finance Minister Samaraweera was not involved at all in this administrative procedure as the Minister.