Explore Business Standard
The Sri Lankan government has announced stringent new regulations limiting the benefits afforded to its ministers, a move aimed at addressing public concerns over political privilege and accountability. A circular issued by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Thursday restricted Cabinet and deputy ministers to two official vehicles. New caps have been placed on their fuel allowances and monthly payments for office, residential, and mobile phone expenses. The support staff for a Cabinet minister is limited to 15 and a deputy minister is limited to 12. Family members or close relatives cannot be appointed as Private Secretary, Coordinating Secretary, Media Secretary, or Public Relations Secretary. The regulations come amidst the ongoing debate over the pressure put on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to leave his official residence and forego personal security. Rajapaksa's security was slashed from 300 plus personnel to just 60 in December. Dissanayake at a public rally held e
The Bihar government has advised private secretaries of state ministers, other than those picked up from the administrative services, not to meddle in the functioning of the departments concerned. In a missive on Friday, Bihar Chief Secretary Amir Subhani asked all the additional chief secretaries of the departments to ensure that such private secretaries refrain from correspondence or oral communication with department officials and confine themselves to "non-government" functions of the minister. "In the absence of any clear-cut guidelines pertaining to the work allocation/distribution among private secretaries (administrative services) and private secretaries (private) of ministers, it is becoming difficult to define their roles in the day to day functioning. "Therefore, after a detailed deliberation, it has been decided that private secretaries (administrative services) will do all inter-departmental communications on behalf of the concerned minister/ department on the direction