President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the program carried out by the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has led to an increase in the efficiency of the public sector in Sri Lanka.

The President expressed his gratitude to its Chair State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, and all who worked towards it.

Accordingly, 833 government institutions were evaluated, and for the year 2019, 15 selected institutions were given gold awards and 30 institutions were given silver awards, and for 2020, 15 selected institutions were given gold awards and 30 institutions were given silver awards, totaling 90 awards each. The presenting of awards was presided over by the President.

Accordingly, awards will be presented under the categories of main Expenditure Units of Government, Government Ministries, Government Departments, District Secretariats, Provincial Council Funds, Provincial Ministries / Departments / Special Expenditure Units, Provincial Authorities, Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Provincial Councils.

Based on the concept of the Committee on Public Accounts of the Eighth Parliament, the Evaluation Program for State, Provincial Council and Local Government Institutions started in the year 2016 based on the 2015 fiscal year, with the aim of streamlining the finances and performance of the government institutions.

More than 1000 government institutions including Ministries, Departments, Provincial Councils and Divisional Secretariats joined the award ceremony through Zoom technology.