Sri Lanka Administrative Service

The Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) is the top level administrative entity of the public service of Sri Lanka, which is serving for both in the central government as well as in the provincial councils. It has a prestigious history dating back to 1802, when the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) was a established by the British Government, mainly to collect revenue and to maintain law and order in the country. After regaining independence from the British rule, the CCS was restructured as the Ceylon Administrative Service (CAS) in 1963, to suit the requirements of the independent Ceylon and was renamed as Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) in 1972, when Sri Lanka became a republic.

Today’s SLAS consists of over 2500 top public service officials who are qualified in many different field and are adaptable to hold the key government executive grade positions such as divisional secretary, directors. They are responsible to contribute in the formulation of public policy and to follow sound strategies in the implementation of policies and also to provide necessary leadership and guidance in order to ensure an efficient public service.

Recruitment process is mainly divided into internal and external and further it is divided in to main 3 categories as below.

Stream of Recruitment Percentage%
Open (from external candidates)
75
Limited (from internal candidates) 20
Merit (from internal candidates) 5

 

Career path of the SLAS is started with grade III officer and grade II, grade I and finally special grade officer for serving top most places in the public service of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association (SASA) is the main trade union of the SLAS officers which exercises their right to freedom of association – a fundamental right under the Constitution of Sri Lanka. It is a registered trade union under the Trade Union Ordinance No 14 of 1935, thus the members and officers of the Association enjoys all protections, privileges and immunities afforded to a registered trade union.