Verité Research shares structure for rational, efficient Government in SL

Verité Research Executive Director Dr. Nishan de Mel 

Verité Research yesterday launched a ‘Blueprint for a Rational Government in Sri Lanka’. 

The publication shows how all the duties, functions, institutions, and laws in Sri Lanka can be structured and organised in an efficient and effective manner – even with just 15 ministries.

It draws on the work of the acclaimed 1988 Administrative Reform Commission as well as exemplary international practices, to design a highly functional structure for organising Government and all its activities in Sri Lanka.

The design of this Blueprint is based on minimising two significant problems that can arise in the formation of cabinet ministries.

Fragmentation: this is when related subjects are split across different ministries. For example, at one time the subjects of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock Development and Fertiliser were split across different ministries

Misalignment: this is when unrelated subjects are grouped together under the same ministry. For example, there was a single Ministry for Tourism, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs all lumped together, and another Ministry lumping together Telecommunications, Foreign Employment and Sports

Additionally, there is problem of frequent changes that make Government even more dysfunctional. For instance, from 2010 to 2023, the compositions of ministries, including the institutions, and acts assigned to them, were changed by at least 111 gazettes, with each of these gazettes usually making multiple changes to the structure of Government.

The Blueprint document is set out in the form of the gazette that the Government is required to publish when a cabinet is formed; completely incorporating all aspects of Government that need to be assigned to a well-designed set of ministries. The theory and thinking behind the design were published in 2020 in a Verité Research white paper titled ‘A Rational Method for Cabinet Formation in Sri Lanka’.

The two documents are being presented to all major political parties in Sri Lanka to assist with the hard work of designing a structure of Government that serves the people of Sri Lanka in an efficient and effective manner.

For more information and access these documents, please visit https://www.veriteresearch.org/publication/blueprint-for-a-rational-cabinet-in-sri-lanka/