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Rear Admiral Ananda Peiris who was appointed Director General of the Sri Lanka Civil Defence Force (CDF) will assume duties tomorrow, Monday February 15. Rear Admiral Peiris was one time Eastern Naval Commander.
An old Anandian, Rear Admiral Peiris takes over the post rendered vacant by the retirement of Rear Admiral Ananda Weerasekera under whom the CDF transformed into a formidable unit by incorporating the former Home Guards into the force.
The Sri Lanka Home Guard Service, part of the Department of Civil Defence was tasked as an auxiliary to the Sri Lanka Police. The activities relating to the Home Guard Service established under the Mobilization of Supplementary Force Act No. 40 of 1985. The local home guards come under the command of the local police. They were volunteers deployed in their home towns and villages, to protect the civilian population from attacks by the LTTE terrorists.
The Department of Civil Defence comes under the purview of the Ministry of Defence. They are utilized to serve as auxiliary to the Police and generally help in maintaining internal security. To serve in static defensive duties such as manning check points, guard low priority buildings, installations, villages etc. It also functions as an Emergency Force intended for special tasks directly or indirectly connected with the defence of the country while providing security to centers of economic importance and protecting main supply routes.
The Home Guard Service was created by the then Minister of National Security the late Lalith Athulathmudali In 1986 with a strength of about 5000 personnel. They were issued uniforms and weapons (mostly Shotguns) and were under the command of the local Sri Lankan Police units. In 1988 female guardswomen joined to the force. Since 1993 they have been issued with automatic rifles. In April 2006 the Home Guard was renamed as the Civil Defence Force followed by the establishment of the Department of Civil Defence on 1 January 2007. Since then its members have been deployed outside their home villages to maintain public security even in Colombo.
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