The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) has been taken over by the Ministry of Defence with immediate effect.

A Gazette notification has been issued by President Maithripala Sirisena amending the functions of the Ministry of Mass Media and placing the SLRC under the Ministry of Defence.

With this move, the SLRC comes under the direct purview of President Sirisena.

This is the first time in history that the SLRC has been placed under the Ministry of Defence, which has no relation to the functions of mass media.