Officers’ protest slows down NIC processing by 50%

The process of accepting applications for the issuance of national identity cards (NICs) has slowed down by 50% because of a protest by government executive officers, the Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) said.

DRP Commissioner-General (CG) Viyani Gunathileka said most of the administrative and executive officers at the department were on sick leave today.

"Administrative and executive officers play a major role in issuing NICs. There are no executive officers at work as they are participating in the protest," he said.

The Sri Lanka Administrative Officers’ Association (SASA) launched an indefinite TU action from yesterday over salary-related issues and other demands.

"The DRP was compelled to slow down the process by 50% from what it handles a day. If the protest continues tomorrow there is the likelihood of the entire process being suspended," the CG said.

He said they had to return most of the documents back to the applicants today due to the lack of executive officers. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)