Colombo, Nov. 28 -- Ministerial portfolios are not privileges but responsibilities, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday told the 35 state ministers and three deputy ministers who were sworn before him yesterday.

The President said that he initially wanted to reduce the number of state ministers but had refrained from dong so considering that a lot of work had to be done to fulfill the promises made in his manifesto.

The President said: "The ministerial portfolios have been allocated based on the areas which need immediate development. These are areas that I had been thinking about for some years. I also saw some areas that needed immediate attention when I was campaigning." The President said the ministerial portfolios did not contai...