COPE suspends 24 ‘Rajitha’ appointments

August 25, 2017

24 appointments made to the State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation without any concern regarding their qualifications by the Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne have been suspended and the Corporation has been ordered to inspect their qualifications by the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE).

Instructions had been given to recruit the employees in a letter using the letter heads of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and the signature of Specialist Doctor Sujatha Senaratna, wife of Minister Rajitha Senaratna, who acts as his private secretary.

Most of these appointees are from Wadduwa, Katukurunda, Bulathsinhala, Badureliya areas in Kalutara District and three of them have been attached as coordinating secretaries to Minister Senaratna. As such, they had drawn salaries from the State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation while employed as Minister Senaratna’s coordinating secretaries. It is revealed that there are no provisions to attach employees recruited to the State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation for any other duties and doing so is illegal.

It has also been revealed to COPE that 6 employees recruited in this manner to State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation have drawn salaries without reporting to any duty at the Corporation.

Also, 18 of this group have been recruited on 9th November, 2015 but the approval of the Director Board had been received only on 18th May, 2016. This means they have been appointed before receiving the approval of the Director Board.

As such, their appointments have been suspended so that their qualifications and the process they were recruited could be investigated, to find out how some of them have drawn salaries without performing any duties and how they had functioned as coordinating secretaries of the Minister when there are no provisions for such a process.