President Wickremesinghe urges Lal to help establish university of governance and public policy in Sri Lanka
Posted Date – 11:59 PM, Sunday – 4/2/23
Colombo: The director of the Indian Institute of Good Governance shared India’s experience in using information technology to improve the performance of civil servants with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who expressed interest in replicating it in his country.
The President met with Bharat Lal, Director of the Indian Institute of Good Governance, who visited Sri Lanka to discuss possible ways to strengthen the country’s civil service and improve the performance of government agencies by implementing effective oversight measures.
During the meeting at the presidential residence on Saturday, Lal “shared how India has successfully integrated information technology into the civil service”, the Presidential Media Department (PMD) said.
“India has been successful in integrating information technology into public service delivery with significant progress and cost savings,” he told the Sri Lankan head of state.
During the discussion, President Wickremasinghe urged Lal to help establish a university of governance and public policy in Sri Lanka.
On Friday, the president launched a master plan to digitize the country’s economy by 2030, vowing to build a digitized modern Sri Lanka through the digitization of government departments. He said a cabinet committee of ministers would be formed to ensure that the digitization of government departments can be done expeditiously.
He said it was the government’s responsibility to accelerate digitization.
Lal was accompanied by Gopal Baglay, the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo, during discussions with President Wickremesinghe on Saturday.
