Mr. S. Amarasekara was appointed to the post of Secretary to the Prime Minister on 22nd April 2010.  Prior to this appointment he served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services.

Being a very senior member of the Sri Lanka Planning Service with a service history of over 40 years,  Mr. Amarsekara has held various high profile positions in government institutions in Sri Lanka including 11   years of service as a Ministry Secretary. 

During this period, Mr. Amarsekara has held secretary positions in 5 ministries viz,

• Ministry of Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services,
• Ministry of Highways and Road Development,
• Ministry of Western Region Development,
• Ministry of Port and Shipping
• Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development.

In 1973, he was appointed the Head of the District Planning Unit of Monaragala to plan and implement the Divisional Development Council Programme, which was launched as a very high priority progamme by the then government to alleviate the youth unemployment problem. Under this programme, he pioneered the introduction of sugar cane cultivation in the dry zone under rain fed condition. .

Since 1982 to 1991 he worked as the Director of Matara District Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP) funded by Swedish International Development Agency. There, he has designed and implemented several innovative projects to foster the participation of beneficiaries (the poor) in planning, implementation and monitoring of rural development projects.

Later, he became the Additional Director, Director and the Director General (Regional Development) of the Ministry of Plan Implementation. During his tenure of office in the Ministry of Plan Implementation, he played the leading role in incorporating participatory planning techniques to the national programme of IRDP and other rural development programmes sponsored by the government.

As the Secretary, Ministry of Highways, he was instrumental in developing an Island-wide modern road network under a Ten Year Master Plan including construction of express ways flyovers and a national programme of rural roads development.

In addition to substantive posts in the public service, he concurrently has held various other positions such as the Additional Director General of Southern Development Authority, Chairman of Urban Development Authority, Road Development Authority, Agrarian Research and Training Institute and Council for Agriculture Research Policy.

Mr. Amarasekara has also served as a board member of number of government corporations and statutory bodies (Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd, Export Development Board, Industrial Development Board, Mahaveli Development Authority, etc.). In addition to the government institutions, Mr. Amasekara has also served in public listed companies as a board member as well as the Chairman of On’Ally Holdings PLC.

Mr. Amarasekara completed his postgraduate diploma in development studies at the University of Bath, UK and has acquired professional training in “Regional Development Planning and Rural Development’ from University of Birmingham, UK and United Nations Centre for Regional Development in Japan.

Being a well experienced regional and rural development planner, Mr. Amarasekara has contributed in many ways to uplift the living standards of under-privileged communities in Sri Lanka. Besides, he has served as a Consultant to the Ministry of Atoll Administration of Maldives Government to prepare a development plan for Addu Atoll, which was funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

During his long career in the Public Service, he had represented Sri Lanka at various international forums, conferences, workshops, seminars etc., apart from leading Sri Lankan delegations to various countries and funding organizations to negotiate on behalf of Sri Lanka.

Mr. S.S. Miyanawala, an officer of the special grade of the SLAS, assumed duties in the post of Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister on the 23rd of May, 2008. Prior to that, he held the post of Director (Mgt. & Fin.) of the National Procurement Agency of Sri Lanka which functioned under the Presidential Secretariat.

He entered the Sri Lanka Administrative Service in 1982 and served in the Districts of Batticaloa, Matale, Galle and Kalutara. At the Ministry of Finance and Planning where he served for 12 years, he was Assistant Secretary initially, handling Cabinet and Parliamentary Affairs and later as Senior Assistant Secretary. Concurrently, he worked in the Departments of Customs & Excise as a Deputy Director. Thereafter, for two years, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Senior Assistant Secretary. During this period, he visited the Sri Lankan Missions in Cairo, Doha/Qatar, Dubai, Abudabi and Muscat / Oman on a Management/Audit inspection on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002 / 2003.

He possesses 2nd class (Hons) degree in Geography and Bachelors Degree in German obtained from Kelaniya University. Added qualifications are Diploma in English and Certificate in Public Administration awarded by SLIDA. He is presently reading for Master of Public Management Degree at SLIDA.

In addition to that he has participated in the programmes of District Development Administration, Certificate in General Management and Disciplinary Procedure Programmes held at SLIDA and Project Procurement programme sponsored by the ADB. He has participated in a Workshop on Economic Development Policies held in Japan in 1992 and a programme on Procurement Procedures held in India in 2005. He has also participated in an Advanced Management Programme held in India with a study tour to The Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxemburg and Switzerland in 2007.

In 2008 he has attended a Senior Management and Leadership programme at ASCI, India and Public Administration & Governance programme at Civil Service College of Singapore.

Mr. Anuradha Lanka Jayaratne, son of the Honourable Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne and Mrs. Jayaratne was born in the beautiful village of Doluwa in Kandy on 22 December 1985. He commenced his primary education at the Trinity College, Kandy and later entered Royal Collage, Colombo where he completed his primary and secondary education.

Anuradha who was a brilliant pupil at colleges was well known among the students and the teachers and sohwed a great interest for aesthetics and sciences. He represented the Trinity College Basket Ball Team and the Hockey Team and was also represented and NCC Sports Club. He completed his secondary education in 2004 and was granted admission to the Buckingham University in London to follow a degree in Law.

In the year 2007 he returned to Sri Lanka Subsequnt to the completion of university education and in 2008 entered the Sri Lanka Law College with the hope of serving the mother country. Mr. Anuradha Lanka Jayaratne is currently serving as the private secretary to the Honourable Prime Minister.