Minister of Transport, Highways and Media Bandula Gunawardena has called for the digitization of five state institutions, which he identified as the most corrupt in Sri Lanka’s state sector.

According to Daily Mirror, the Minister said the Sri Lanka Customs, Excise Department, Motor Traffic Department, Inland Revenue Department and Sri Lanka Railways are the five most corrupt state institutions in the nation.

He pointed out that the volume of corruption was enormous enough to increase state revenue by 50 per cent if the institutions’ activities were digitized in a bid to curb errant practices.

Minister Gunawardena emphasized that digitization was the only means through which corruption and fraud could be rid of at these institutions.

Stating that attempts are underway to digitize the Motor Traffic Department despite various objections, he revealed that at least 20 per cent of vehicles in operation on roads had been registered fraudulently.

Minister Bandula Gunawardena added that the government was unable to reach its revenue targets due to the five state departments involved in revenue generation being riddled with corruption and fraud