Public Administration and Public Services
This domain tests how the State delivers services, how the public service is structured and controlled, and how citizens can complain or hold officials accountable.
Structure
- Ministries frame policy; departments and statutory bodies implement it.
- Provincial councils handle devolved subjects under the Thirteenth Amendment.
- The District Secretariat, headed by the District Secretary, coordinates at district level; the Divisional Secretariat serves the electorate; Grama Niladhari divisions serve villages.
Controls and accountability
- The Public Service Commission, established by Article 54, handles recruitment, promotion and disciplinary matters in the public service.
- The Ombudsman, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, investigates injustice caused by administration.
- The Auditor General audits public accounts; the National Audit Act reinforces reporting to Parliament.
- The Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016 allows citizens to request information from public authorities within defined timelines.
- The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has strengthened powers under its 2023 Act, and asset declarations are required under the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Act No. 1 of 1975.
Worked example. An applicant's pension file has been missing for eight months despite repeated visits to a department. Reasoning: the first step is a written request or appeal to the head of the department and, where applicable, the Divisional Secretariat; a Right to Information request can establish the file's status; if unjust delay continues, a complaint to the Ombudsman is the appropriate route, not a fundamental-rights case.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing the Ombudsman with the Bribery Commission.
- Assuming ministers personally decide public-service promotions.
- Forgetting that provincial councils administer devolved subjects.
- Thinking RTI applies only to the media.