The gazette notification on state institutions coming under ministries will be delayed until next week, informed government sources said. 

President Maithripala Sirisena is currently on a personal holiday to Thailand and the gazette will be issued upon his return to the country, they added. 

Sirisena is expected to return to the country next week.

New ministers, who took oaths last week, cannot appoint heads of state institutions until the release of the gazette. 

It is learnt that President Sirisena will place the Police Department under the purview of the Ministry of Defence, held by the President.