Strength to the people
MANY Governments have used the conflict
as a convenient excuse for stopping development work, telling the public
that a very high defence expenditure leaves no room for channelling
funds to other sectors.
While there is some substance in this argument, such actions have led
to a stunting of economic growth in many parts of the country. A
developing country cannot afford to lag behind while other countries in
the region go forward.
Having realised the importance of developing all areas in the
country, regardless of whether they are affected by the conflict or not,
the present administration has embarked on an ambitious programme of
developing 12,000 villages islandwide (including the North-East) under
the Jathika Saviya-Gama Neguma programme.
The Government has already allocated Rs.77 billion for the first
phase of the programme which started on Thursday from Meerigama.
In his message to the inaugural ceremony, President Mahinda Rajapaksa
pointed out that all these efforts would come to nought without national
unity and public participation.
“In a country that has no national unity and people’s participation,
it is not possible to erect a lamp post, even by spending a billion
rupees. That is why we need to pump both fuel and water to make the
engine of development run. The fuel and water to drive this engine are
national unity and public participation,” the President said.
Unity at village and national level is essential for achieving
progress. Fortunately, the conflict in the North-East has not permeated
to the hearts of the ordinary people of all communities, who continue to
live among each other in harmony.
The Government has made a clear distinction between the terrorists
and the ordinary Tamil civilians, most of whom are living in Southern
areas in any case. This means that people belonging to all communities
and religions contribute to development at village level.
There are encouraging signs that this is spreading to the political
arena as well. It has been the norm in this country for one Government
to undo even the good work done by the previous Government often on
political grounds, thus victimising the innocent people who would have
benefitted in the end.
Eighteen prominent members of the UNP are now with the Government.
Many parties representing various ideologies and communities are also
supporting the Government’s development drive. This trend should ideally
set a precedent for the next Government to continue the progressive
policies and programmes implemented by this Government.
Another positive development is that almost all parties except the
TNA and the JVP are actively involved in the All Party Representative
Committee’s (APRC) deliberations towards a peaceful resolution of the
national issue.
As the President said, the Government is changing the whole concept
of development, from a Government-centred process to a people-centred
one.
Decisions affecting a village hundreds of kilometres away from
Colombo were often taken by a politician or an official sitting in an
airconditioned room in a Colombo office.
Such decision makers had never been to the villages concerned and had
little or no idea of the people’s needs. On the other hand, the Jathika
Saviya envisages a development process led by the people in the
respective villages. They know what is best for their village.
This is otherwise known as the devolution of power to the people. It
is precisely what the APRC is deliberating on. In an interview with
Daily News published on Thursday, APRC Chairman Prof. Tissa Vitharana
noted that a lot of problems of governance flow from the gap between the
governed and the governing.
By taking devolution to the grassroots level, this vast gulf can be
bridged to a great extent. It is also reassuring to note that such
devolution would apply to the whole country, not just to the
conflict-hit provinces.
If lasting peace can be achieved in this process, it would be a great
boon since the funds used for defence activities can also be diverted
towards development to expedite Lanka’s forward march. |
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