P. S. M. Charles | |
---|---|
7th Governor of the Northern Province | |
In office 17 May 2023 –23 September 2024 | |
President | Ranil Wickremesinghe |
Preceded by | Jeevan Thiagarajah |
Succeeded by | Nagalingam Vethanayahan |
In office 30 December 2019 –11 October 2021 | |
President | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
Preceded by | Suren Raghavan |
Succeeded by | Jeevan Thiagarajah |
Personal details | |
Political party | Independent |
Alma mater | University of Jaffna |
Occupation | Civil servant |
Ethnicity | Sri Lankan |
Prince Sarojini Manmatharajah Charles is a Sri Lankan civil servant who has served as the Governor of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka on two occasions.
Charles is a Catholic and the daughter of a school principal. [1] She has a degree from the University of Jaffna and master's degrees in disaster management and business administration from the University of Peradeniya and Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. [2] [3]
Charles was Additional District Secretary (AGA) for Vavuniya District before becoming District Secretary (GA) for the district in October. She was appointed District Secretary for Batticaloa District in May 2012. [4] [5]
Charles was appointed Director General of Sri Lanka Customs in September 2017. [6] [7] She was removed from the post in January 2019,allegedly after refusing to give in to government pressure in respect of investigations into 143 suspicious cargo containers. [8] [9] She was re-instated swiftly following industrial action by customs workers. [10] [11]
Charles was appointed secretary of the Ministry of Healthcare and Indigenous Medical Services in November 2019. [12] [13] She was sworn in as Governor of the Northern Province on 30 December 2019. [14] [15] In October 2021,Jeevan Thiagarajah replaced her as the new governor of Northern Province. [16] She was reappointed in May 2023 as governor of Northern Province,replacing Thiagarajah. [17]
Upon Anura Kumara Dissanayake taking office as President;Charles resigned. This led to the appointment of Nagalingam Vethanayahan,a former government agent for Jaffna as Governor of Northern Province. [18] [19]