Feb 15, Colombo: In a measure to strengthen the country's archaic Postal Service, the Sri Lankan government has recruited over 1,000 new employees to the service.

The government has made 1,080 new appointments to the Postal Service after a lapse of 16 years to uplift the service to meet the present day needs. The new recruitments will cover all the districts in the country.

Speaking at the event, President Rajapaksa said the government had allocated more than 650 million rupees from the budget to introduce new technology to modernize the postal service in order to provide an efficient and high standard service.

Addressing the function, Minister of Postal Services Jeevan Kumaranatunga said that a speedy growth has been recorded in the 209-year-old Postal Service.

The Minister has said that SMS, FaceBook and email is a major challenge placed before the postal service today and therefore, introducing new technology to the Postal Service is vital for its survival.

The Minister stressed that the new recruits have a major responsibility to improve department to provide an efficient service.

(Photos by Chandana Perera)