The Hon. Major General (Rtd.) Aruna Jayasekera - Deputy Minister of Defence
The Deputy Minister of Defence provided figures on civilian employees in the Tri Forces, stating that the Army has 7,391, the Navy 1,158 and the Air Force 2,075, with separate totals for confirmed and temporary or contract staff as at 30 June 2025. He said confirmations were last made in 2014 for the Army and in 2019 for the Navy and Air Force, and that action is underway to confirm eligible temporary civilian employees through Cabinet memoranda and approvals involving the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Administration, State Ministry of Defence and Department of Management Services. He also stated that approval has been sought from the Department of Management Services to fill civilian cadre vacancies, with further action to follow once approval is received.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Defence, I provide the following answer.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Number of civilian employees: - Sri Lanka Army: 7,391 - Sri Lanka Navy: 1,158 - Sri Lanka Air Force: 2,075
¶ 03 (ii) As per the Annex tabled.
¶ 04 (iii) Number confirmed in service (as at 2025.06.30): - Sri Lanka Army: 6,159 - Sri Lanka Navy: 1,149 - Sri Lanka Air Force: 1,993
¶ 05 (iv) Number serving on temporary basis: - Sri Lanka Army: 1,232 - Sri Lanka Navy: 09 - Sri Lanka Air Force: Temporary 54; Contract 28
¶ 06 (v) Year last confirmations were made: - Sri Lanka Army: 2014 - Sri Lanka Navy: 2019 - Sri Lanka Air Force: 2019
¶ 07 (vi) Action is being taken to confirm the civilian employees currently serving on a temporary basis in the Tri Forces. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Administration and the State Ministry of Defence have jointly prepared a Cabinet Memorandum to be submitted shortly seeking Cabinet approval.
¶ 08 (vii) A Cabinet Memorandum dated 2025.03.04 has been submitted to obtain the observations and recommendations of the Director General of Management Services regarding confirmation of the civilian employees currently serving on a temporary basis. Meanwhile, the Department of Management Services is taking steps to submit a Cabinet Memorandum regarding granting permanent appointments to employees recruited on temporary, casual (daily), substitute, contract or relief basis to institutions of the State sector, in line with Public Administration Circulars No. 25/2014 and 29/2019. Upon receipt of such approval, further action can be taken.
¶ 09 (viii) In accordance with policy decisions taken by the Government, civilian employees serving on a temporary basis who fulfill the required qualifications are confirmed from time to time as per the provisions of the circulars issued by the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government.
¶ 10 (b) (i) Yes.
¶ 11 (ii) With regard to filling vacancies in the civilian cadre of the Tri Forces, approval has been sought from the Department of Management Services to proceed further. Subsequent action will be taken upon receipt of the relevant approval.
¶ 12 (c) Not applicable.
¶ 13 Annex tabled: - Sri Lanka Army - Sri Lanka Navy - Sri Lanka Air Force (Professions list produced at end of Answer.)
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 11 September 2025 ·No. 1758278142029989 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Major General (Rtd.) Aruna Jayasekera - Deputy Minister of Defence. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 11 September 2025. No. 1758278142029989. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/1234