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Hansard Department
The primary concern of the Hansard Department is the
production of the Official Report (known as Hansard) of the
verbatim record of the proceedings of Parliament. Standing Order
12 of the Parliament of Sri Lanka provides that the Business
of Parliament shall be conducted in Sinhala, Tamil and English
and speeches made in Parliament are recorded in the language
in which it is delivered.
The Hansard is an enduring record of the business transacted
in Parliament each day. Every word audibly uttered in Parliament
is taken down by a Hansard Reporter, transcribed and then submitted
to the Assistant Editor of the particular stream in which the
speech is delivered. Upon reaching the Asst. Editor's desk,
it is carefully edited and then passes through to the Deputy
Editor and, finally, the Editor. At the end of the day, after
the editing and dovetailing of the shifts have been done, a
master copy is prepared. Once the Editor is satisfied with the
master script and receives his imprimatur, it is transmitted
to the Government Printer for printing. With the computerisation
of the department, it is proposed to transmit the entire Parliamentary
proceedings to the Government Printer on a diskette.
It is also the responsibility of the Hansard Department to report
proceedings of Select Committees and other Committees that are
appointed by Parliament from time to time. The sittings of these
committees often coincide with the sittings of Parliament and
the Hansard Reporters have then to shuttle from the House to
Committees and back to the House and the pace is, often, hectic.
A Hansard Reporter has to possess an advanced speed in Shorthand,
a keen sense of ear and eye, a fairly wide knowledge of the
Constitution and Standing Orders and local and international
affairs. His physical and mental faculties must be sharp at
all times to face the many challenges he will confront in his
day-to-day work. All these attributes come into play in the
course of his work, especially during Question Time when Questions
and Answers are rattled off at high speed - at times not too
clearly - and the Reporter has to have the ability to appreciate
and understand what has been said and then submit a coherent
script.
The department is also supplemented by an Indexing Unit comprising
five Indexing Officers who index all matters discussed in Parliament,
Member-wise and subject-wise. The cross-referencing is an aid
to Members of Parliament as well as those interested in the
affairs of Parliament to more easily access the required matter
or subject.
Proceedings of the House as well as Committees are tape recorded
by a team of Recording Assistants.
The Hansard Department is headed by the Editor of Hansard, who
has a Deputy Editor, 11 Assistant Editors of Hansard, 41 Hansard
Reporters, 5 Indexing Officers and 6 Recording Assistants.
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