The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake
The Minister acknowledged major inefficiencies in the railway system while noting the dedication of many staff. He said the Government has taken a Cabinet policy decision to fill technical vacancies, though implementation was delayed by some departmental heads, and is now working with the new General Manager, State Minister, volunteer engineers, and trade unions. He stated that reforms would be systematic and projected about a 50 percent improvement in rail services within a year.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 We accept that the collapse of national systems includes rail. There are significant inefficiencies and failures to deliver required services, although many officers and workers are dedicated. Under previous political practices, cadre placements were often influenced. We first took a Cabinet policy decision to fill technical vacancies and obtained approval last December. Some departmental heads were slow to act, causing delays. With a new General Manager of Railways and a team including the State Minister, we are working with volunteer engineers and trade unions. There is no magic wand; we will change things systematically. Within about a year, we expect a roughly 50 percent improvement over the current state.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 21 August 2025 ·No. 1757391500023637 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/22562
Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 21 August 2025. No. 1757391500023637. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/22562