Funday Times

Employees of Parliament
Even though there are only 225 Members of Parliament (MPs), there are hundreds of employees in the Parliamentary Secretariat who attend to the day-to-day functioning of the Legislature.

At present there are more than 750 permanent staff members in the Secretariat working in its six Departments namely the Department of the Serjeant- at-Arms, the Departments of Administration, Hansard, Engineering, Catering and Housekeeping and the Finance and Supplies Department.

The head of the permanent official staff of Parliament is the Secretary General who is appointed by the President. The present Secretary General is Mrs.Priyanee Wijesekara, the first woman to hold the post.

The role of the Secretary General is to advise the Speaker on the exercise of his powers and functions. The Secretary General also has to be present in the Chambers during sittings. She occupies a chair just below the desk of the Speaker.

The Serjeant-at-Arms also has a very important duty to perform in Parliament. The present Serjeant-at-Arms is Mr.Wijaya Palliyaguruge. The person who holds this position is the custodian of the Mace, which is the symbol of authority of the House.

The Sarjeant –at-Arms has to attend to several important duties such as attendance upon the Speaker and carry out his duties, maintain order within the precincts of the legislature, control and regulate the attendance of people to the Parliament building as well as carry our ceremonial functions in Parliament.

The Sarjeant-at –Arms is assisted by a Deputy and an Assistant. The Hansard is the official record of all the Parliamentary proceedings and it is the task of the Hansard Department to ensure these records are maintained accurately.

The speeches made by all MPs are recorded in whatever language they are spoken in by the staff of this department. They use shorthand to take down speeches as they are made and also record them to ensure that there are no mistakes or omissions. Then each day’s proceedings are printed in the form of a book, which is called the Hansard.

These records are printed and made available to members of the public through the Government Publications Bureau and make interesting reading for those with an intrest in politics.

The Catering and Housekeeping Department is assigned with the maintenance of the vast Parliamentary complex as well as providing meals for the MPs, the employees of the Secretariat as well as the large numbers of people who visit there for official purposes.

The administrative work of the Legislature is handled by the Administration department while the Engineer’s Department is enforced with several tasks including electrical maintenance work, maintenance of the computer section as well as the closed circuit TV system within the Chambers among others.

The Finance Department carries out the work relating to Finance and Accounts.

Chandani

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