Mr. Dhammika Muthugala, a Special Grade Officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, who has a distinguished service history, assumed duties as the new Director General of the Samurdhi Development Department on 09/02/2026.

Mr. Dhammika Muthugala, who completed his first degree from the University of Peradeniya, joined the Sri Lanka Administrative Service on 15/02/2000 after qualifying among the top ten in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Open Competitive Examination in the year 2000. After his one-year apprenticeship, he was attached to the North Central Provincial Council in 2001 and served as the Director of the Department of Industries and Textiles in the North Central Province and the Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Industries, Rural Development, Sports, Youth Affairs, Women's Affairs, Industries and Construction. He also served as the Director of Sports, Director of Rural Development and Deputy Director of Health Services (Administration) in the Provincial Health Department, before finally assuming the post of Commissioner of Probation and Child Protection Services in the North Central Province.

He played a prominent role in ensuring the safety and security of children and women in border villages during the Sri Lankan civil war. While serving as the Director of Rural Development in the North Central Province, his housing construction program for the extremely poor citizens of the province was also commended by the United Nations.

He was appointed as the Municipal Commissioner of the Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Council in 2011 and served as the Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Commissioner until 2018, and during that time, his contribution to the development of the area was very high. At that time, the highest number of dengue patients in Sri Lanka were reported from the Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Council area, but due to the "Integrated Dengue Control Program" launched by him, the risk of dengue disease in the Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Council area remains at a very low level.

Dhammika Muthugala, who was appointed to the Special Grade of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service in 2018, was appointed as the Director General of the Sports Development Department. Under his leadership and guidance, Sri Lankan athletes won the most gold medals at the 2019 South Asian Athletics Games in Nepal. It was also the highest number of gold medals won by Sri Lanka in an international competition. Sri Lanka also won the most gold medals in athletics for the first time in an international sports event, surpassing India. It is difficult to believe that Sri Lanka will hold such a record again.

Dhammika Muthugala, who was appointed as Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Defence in February 2020, also held the post of Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security. Later, he was appointed as Additional Secretary (Investigation) to the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, where he conducted investigations into financial frauds in a number of government and semi-government institutions in Sri Lanka. Among them, he was able to uncover the financial fraud of billions of rupees in the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the financial fraud of US$ 9 million in the global tea promotion program of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, financial frauds of hundreds of millions of rupees in the purchase of paddy in various districts, as well as the frauds committed by preparing fake birth certificates to prepare identity cards for various criminals in the country and using them to prepare airline tickets, and the financial frauds committed in the printing of lottery tickets at the National Lottery Board. Disciplinary proceedings have already been initiated against a large number of government officials at various levels in relation to those frauds, and several government officials at various levels have already been dismissed by the disciplinary authorities.

Mr. Dhammika Muthugala, who has a history of public service, obtained his Master of Management (Project Management) from the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration after completing his first degree from the University of Peradeniya and also obtained his Master of International Public Management from Peking University, China, one of the top universities in the world. Mr. Dhammika Muthugala, who has studied various courses on public administration in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, China, the United Kingdom, Nepal, and Taiwan, wrote a research paper titled "The Epic of the Red Dragon's Fight Against Poverty" which was highly appreciated by Peking University, China.