Ministry of Public Security (Sri Lanka)

The Ministry of Public Security^[1] (Sinhala: මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය Mahajana Arakshaka Amathyanshaya; Tamil: பொதுமக்கள் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சு) is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for law and order. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on law and order and other subjects which come under its purview.^[2] The ministry manages the country's police. The current Minister of Public Security is Vijitha Herath.^[3] The ministry's secretary is Ravi Seneviratne.^[4]

Ministry of Public Security

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය பொதுமக்கள் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சு
Ministry overview
Formed	16 August 2013; 11 years ago (2013-08-16)
Jurisdiction	Government of Sri Lanka
Headquarters	Floor 14, Suhurupaya, Subuthipura road, Battaramulla 6.903069°N 79.917034°E / 6.903069; 79.917034
Annual budget	LKR 63 billion (2018, recurrent) LKR 5 billion (2018, capital)
Minister responsible	Ananda Wijepala, Minister of Public Security
Ministry executive	Ravi Seneviratne, Ministry Secretary
Child agencies	Sri Lanka Police Service National Dangerous Drugs Control Board Galle Heritage Foundation
Website	www.pubsec.gov.lk

History

Since independence in 1948 the Sri Lankan police had come under the Ministry of Defence. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission had recommended that policing be transferred to a separate ministry.^[5][6] The Ministry of Law and Order was established on 16 August 2013 to manage policing in the country.^[7][8][9]

Ministers

The Minister of Public Security is a member of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.

Ministers of Law and Order

Name		Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	Head of government		Ministerial title	Refs
	Mahinda Rajapaksa		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	26 August 2013	8 January 2015		Mahinda Rajapaksa	Minister of Law and Order	[10][11]
	John Amaratunga		United National Party	12 January 2015	22 March 2015		Maithripala Sirisena	Minister of Public Order, Disaster Management and Christian Affairs	[12][13][14]
				22 March 2015	17 August 2015			Minister of Public Order and Christian Religious Affairs	[15][16][17][18]
	Tilak Marapana		United National Party	4 September 2015	9 November 2015			Minister of Law and Order and Prison Reforms	[19][20][21]
	Sagala Ratnayaka		United National Party	11 November 2015	25 February 2018			Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development	[22][23][24][25]
	Ranil Wickremesinghe		United National Party	25 February 2018	8 March 2018			Minister of Law and Order	[26][27][28]
	Ranjith Madduma Bandara		United National Party	8 March 2018	18 November 2019				[29][30][31]
	Janaka Bandara Tennakoon		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	22 November 2019	12 August 2020		Gotabaya Rajapaksa	Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government	[32]
	Sarath Weerasekara		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	26 November 2020	18 April 2022			Minister of Public Security	[33]
	Prasanna Ranatunga		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	18 April 2022	9 May 2022			Minister of Public Security and Tourism	[34]
	Tiran Alles		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	20 May 2022	24 September 2024		Ranil Wickremesinghe	Minister of Public Security	[35]
	Vijitha Herath		National People's Power	24 September 2024	18 November 2024		Anura Kumara Dissanayake	Minister of Public Security	[36]
	Ananda Wijepala		National People's Power	18 November 2024	Incumbent			Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs	[37]

Secretaries

Law and Order Secretaries

Name	Took office	Left office	Title	Refs
Nanda Mallawaarachchi	19 August 2013		Law and Order Secretary	[38][39][40]
Mahinda Balasuriya	20 October 2014		Law and Order Secretary	[41][42][43]
T. M. K. B. Tennakoon	19 January 2015		Public Order, Disaster Management and Christian Affairs Secretary	[44][45][46][47]
Jagath Wijeweera	8 September 2015		Law and Order and Prison Reforms Secretary	[48][49][50]
	19 November 2015		Law and Order and Southern Development Secretary	[51]