Application of Official Languages Policy in Sri Lankan Public Service

Abstract

Every citizen of the country has the right to seek services in both official languages in public institutions according to the chapter IV of the constitution of Sri Lanka. Also, according to the public administration circular (PAC)7/2007 every public officer who was recruited to the public service after 01.07.2007 should obtain the proficiency of their second official language in order to give their service to the public in both official languages. The second official language of a public officer is the official language which is not the medium through which he/she has entered public service. Thus, general public expect that they can obtain the services in public institutions in the language that they prefer and government expects that public officers will give their service to the general public in the language that the public prefers. This study following hall mark features of a cross-focuses on public institutions in a selected divisional secretariat in Colombo District to find out the challenges faced by the public officers to deliver service in the Official Languages, the findings reveal several administrative issues that disrupts the Official Languages Policy