Govt establishes new pool of officers to probe public sector misconduct

The government of Sri Lanka has taken steps to establish a new pool of investigation officers to conduct preliminary inquiries into misconduct within public sector institutions.

The Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government is currently mandated to conduct preliminary investigations into misconduct occurring within its scope of institutions, as well as complaints referred by the Public Service Commission, the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA), and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

However, due to the increasing volume of complaints across numerous government agencies, the unit’s existing capacity—consisting of only 20 investigation officers—has proven insufficient to handle the workload effectively.

Consequently, under the intervention of the Ministry of Public Administration, a decision was made to establish a specialized pool of preliminary investigation officers and prosecuting officers. These officers were selected from various ministries, departments, state corporations, and boards following a formal application process.

The primary objectives of this initiative are to provide professionally trained investigation officers to the respective institutions where they are currently employed, and to deploy these officers to handle external requests referred to the Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Public Administration.

Accordingly, a pool of 150 officers was selected from the applicants and divided into three groups to undergo a 14-day intensive training program.

The training for the first group commenced on February 5, 2026. A certificate-awarding ceremony for the 42 officers who successfully completed the program was held at the Ministry of Home Affairs Auditorium, located in the “Nila Medura” building in Narahenpita, presided over by the Deputy Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Ruwan Senarath.