According to a recent report released by the National Audit Office, it has been recommended that a loss of Rs. 538.79 million incurred by the government during exhibitions and musical concerts organized by the National Youth Services Council around the August 2024 presidential election period should be recovered from the responsible officials.
The report also recommends taking disciplinary and legal action against the officials who acted in violation of the government’s procurement guidelines, rules, and regulations.
These recommendations were issued based on a special audit report that reviewed the legality, efficiency, and alignment with the council’s primary objectives of six programs carried out by the National Youth Services Council between January and August 2024 under the theme of “relieving youth stress.”
During the eight months from January to August 2024, which coincided with the pre-presidential election period, the National Youth Services Council organized several events, including the Smart Youth New Year festival, the National Youth Vesak festival, the National Youth Poson zone, youth gatherings, the “31st Night Youth Celebration,” and Smart Youth exhibitions and musical shows.
A total of Rs. 538.79 million was spent on these activities, of which Rs. 45.29 million remained to be paid.
The report states that none of these programs aligned with the council’s primary prioritized activities, nor were they included in its annual action plan.
Although Rs. 496.25 million had been approved by the Presidential Secretariat for these activities, only about Rs. 74.20 million had been actually released to the council, leading to the remaining Rs. 464.59 million being spent from the council’s annual capital allocations.
Rs. 323.39 million — or 60% of the total expenditure — was spent on organizing three Smart Youth exhibitions with musical shows and an additional eleven musical concerts.
Furthermore, prior to receiving Cabinet approval for the Smart Youth program, three exhibitions with musical shows plus five additional musical shows had already been held, spending Rs. 259.83 million.
Although the Election Commission had notified that such exhibitions and musical shows should not be held due to the presidential nomination period in August 2024, the council disregarded this instruction and proceeded. The audit also noted that one related file had gone missing.
Rs. 12 million had been spent on recording the Smart Youth exhibitions and musical shows, but these videos were not entered into the council’s inventory records and had also not been presented for audit inspection up to 28 February 2025.
Overall, the audit found that procurement had not been carried out in accordance with government procurement guidelines for these six programs.
It was also observed that items such as T-shirts, skinnies, puppets, decorative arches, flagpoles, and stage construction materials were purchased only from institutions that were not registered with the council but were nominated by its Director General. Additionally, procurement was carried out by awarding contracts to Youth Services (Private) Limited, a company administered by the council, and then sub-contracting the work.
The council’s own internal audit inspections confirmed that some of the named suppliers did not even exist. It was also observed that payments had been made for the same task twice, as well as for tasks that were never carried out.
Sri Lanka Youth Services (Private) Company, administered by the council, had submitted prices including a 10% profit margin, depriving the council of the opportunity to directly obtain the same goods and services at a cheaper cost.
The main objective of implementing these programs, according to the council, had been to promote social coexistence, provide opportunities for cultural and artistic skills development, and prevent the development of mental distress.
Although the programs were held with high youth participation, the report noted that instead of involving young people directly, the council relied on external parties to source both physical and human resources for these events.
In Jaffna and Ampara towns, two youth gatherings were conducted under the then-president’s patronage without clear objectives, costing Rs. 29.31 million, with no specific budgetary allocations made for them.
Furthermore, under the Ampara Poson zone program, Rs. 14.91 million had been spent on an event organized by an external party.
For the “31st Night Youth Celebration,” the council had spent Rs. 10.29 million without board approval, of which Rs. 5 million was advanced to the youth community organization to cover expenses, but neither the ticket sales revenue of Rs. 6.86 million nor funds collected through beer stalls and sponsorships reached the council.
For the National Vesak festival, without an allocation, the council had used Rs. 61 million provided by the Presidential Secretariat for the National Youth Mental Well-being Program to carry out the activities.
