Prince Sarojini Manmatharajah Charles is a Sri Lankan civil servant who has served as the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka on two occasions. Charles is a Catholic and the daughter of a school principal. She has a degree from the

University of Jaffna The University of Jaffna (, ''Yāpanaya Wiśwawidyālaya''; ; abbreviated UoJ) is a public university in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Established in 1974 as the sixth campus of the University of Sri Lanka, it became an independent, autonomous university in 1 ...

and master's degrees in disaster management and business administration from the

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya (, ) is a Public research university, public university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka, University Grants Commission. It is the largest university in Sri Lanka, which was origin ...

and Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. Charles was Additional District Secretary (AGA) for

Vavuniya District Vavuniya District ( ''Vavuṉiyā Māvaṭṭam''; ) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (previousl ...

before becoming

District Secretary A Government Agent (GA) or a District Secretary is a Sri Lankan civil servant of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service appointed by the central government to govern a certain district of the country. The GA is the administrative head of public servic ...

(GA) for the district in October. She was appointed District Secretary for

Batticaloa District Batticaloa District ( ; ) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (previously known as a Government A ...

in May 2012. Charles was appointed Director General of

Sri Lanka Customs Sri Lanka Customs (, ) is a ministerial government department in Sri Lanka. The main functions of the department are, * Collection of revenue * Prevention of revenue leakages and other frauds * Facilitation of legitimate trade * Collection of i ...

in September 2017. 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 container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a freight container, (or simply "container") is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different mod ...

s. She was re-instated swiftly following

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...

by customs workers. Charles was appointed

secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the Ministry of Healthcare and Indigenous Medical Services in November 2019. She was sworn in as

of the Northern Province on 30 December 2019. In October 2021, Jeevan Thiagarajah replaced her as the new governor of Northern Province. She was reappointed in May 2023 as governor of Northern Province, replacing Thiagarajah. Upon

Anura Kumara Dissanayake Anura Kumara Dissanayake (born 24 November 1968), commonly referred to by his initials AKD, is a Sri Lankan politician who has been the tenth and current president of Sri Lanka since 2024. Dissanayake is the first Sri Lankan president to be ele ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, P. S. M. Alumni of the University of Jaffna Alumni of the University of Peradeniya Alumni of the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Government Agents (Sri Lanka) Governors of Northern Province, Sri Lanka Living people Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan Tamil women Year of birth missing (living people)