Background of Sri Lanka Engineering Service (SLES)
Before the Sri Lanka Engineering Service was centrally established on 01.10.1971, Engineers required for the Public Service were recruited by the respective Departments according to their needs. Engineers so recruited found themselves subject to varying conditions of employment, and as a result, around 1970 there was a considerable agitation among Engineers in the four Engineering disciplines of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics Engineering that promotional prospects were limited, facilities for postgraduates training and practical experience required for Engineers to obtain full professional qualifications were restricted and that the disciplinary procedures in the different Departments were not uniform. As such, the Public Service Engineers suggested the formation of a separate service for Engineers.
The minute on the Ceylon Engineering Service was published in the Ceylon Government Gazette (Extra Ordinary) No. 15001/8 of March 14, 1972 (By the Secretary, Public Service Commission) and the Ceylon Engineering Service was established on 1st October 1971. This minute was replaced by the Minute published in the Gazette (Extra Ordinary) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka No. 327/1 dated 25-07-1978.
The Sri Lanka Engineering Service minute was further revised to incorporate certain administrative procedures adopted after the promulgation of the new Constitution and revised Minute was published in the Gazette (Extra Ordinary) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka No. 296/2 dated 7-5-1984.
All amendments inclusive of the new salary scales for Engineers have been incorporated in the service Minute published in the Gazette (Extra Ordinary) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka No. 509/7 dated 07-06-1988.
As a result of Public Administration Circular No.06/2006, the Minutes of Sri Lanka Engineering Services was revised and published in the Gazette (Extra Ordinary) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka No. 1836/6 dated 11-11-2013 and No 1840/2 dated 09-12-2013.