COPA to evaluate performance of state institutions this year

By Saman Indrajith

The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) will soon start evaluating the performance of government institutions, COPA Chairman Lasantha Alagiyawanna told Parliament on Thursday (07).MP Alagiyawanna presented the second report of a web-based financial performance evaluation programme on the accounting practices of all ministries, departments and other state institutions in 2021.

Since 2015, COPA has collected data from 840 state institutions, evaluated the performance of each and every institution, and graded them according to a stipulated and pre-determined marking scheme, according to the COPA Chairman.

“The 2022 report will be presented next month. The report for 2023 will be issued in 2024 as scheduled,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s Office, Office of the Leader of the House in Parliament, and National Police Commission, had performed well, he said.

The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Ports and shipping, Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation had followed the best accounting practices among ministries in 2022, he said.

The Department of Project Management and Monitoring, the Department of Treasury Operations, the Rubber Development Department, the Sri Lanka Air Force, and the Land Use Policy Planning Department have scored the most points among state departments, Alagiyawanna said.

Out of the district secretariats, Kurunegala, Kilinochchi, and Kandy have come out on top, he said.Out of the provincial councils, Wayamba has been evaluated as having the best accounting practices, Alagiyawanna said.

“State institutions have made substantial progress in accounting practices. Yet there are issues. Just because these institutions have scored well in our report doesn’t mean there are no irregularities in these institutions. COPA will also start evaluating the performance made by these institutions with the money allocated in 2023,” he said.