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by Ilika Karunaratne

The appointment of Sunethra Ranasinghe, as Chairperson of The State Pharmaceutical Corporation had few detractors, as no-one can deny her steadfast loyalty to the party and its leadership, ever since she entered politics in 1977. As such, hers was one of the more deserving appointments. Sunetra's date with destiny in politics was not on a mere whim or a spur of the moment decision. Politics had been her life, in the shadow of her father, since her childhood. Therefore, the 'de rigeur' it required, came easily to her.

"I had helped my father, with his political work for years. He died in 1977, as Minister of Fisheries, and the late President Jayewardene, nominated me as UNP candidate, for what was to be the first by election of that Parliament. I won easily with an overwhelming majority of 10,000 votes. I was at school, at St. Bridget's Convent and left after my A levels, to study accountancy, but gave it up rather reluctantly at the time, when my father needed me to help with his political work, and requested me to be his private secretary."

Although a Buddhist, Sunetra feels a great debt of gratitude for her education at a catholic school, and the influence of the nuns there. "I feel that my discipline and punctuality were instilled in me by them, which have helped me immeasurably in my life."

Did she have experience in social service before going into politics? "I had always been involved in temple activities, and with women's organisations and NGO's in the area. I made use of any opportunity to help my Alma Mater as well, and was able to do so, as President of its PPA and in the School Development Society. I was made Deputy Minister of Health in 1982, and in 1983, with the first Ministry of Women's Affairs, I felt a great sense of humility and appreciation when President Jayewardene appointed me as its Minister. Something worth remembering, is that although we produced the world's first woman Prime Minister, it was President Jayewardene, in his infinite wisdom who realised the need for a separate Ministry of Women's Affairs. He wanted women to play a more prominent role in governance, and make a more significant contribution to our country."

Sunetra, by her appointment as the first Minister in our country's first Ministry of Women's Affairs, has left her footprints, firmly entrenched in the sands of our country's history, and is ever appreciative of President Jayewardene's confidence in her, by making this appointment. "President Jayewardene, wanted more women to be involved in the development process of the country and encouraged this from the grassroots level. Women's associations were formed from Grama Sevaka divisions outside political divisions.

We started the Kantha Kariya Samaja with which we developed opportunities for self-employment with funding and training from The Women's Bureau and NGOs. We were glad to find women starting bakeries, boutiques, cycle repairs, poultry and the making of sweetmeats as businesses, and their success at them. We found in our research, that many women were unaware that the law permits equal rights for both sexes, so we organised workshops on awareness programmes, with the participation of lady lawyers, to explain the law in relation to land disputes, family problems and domestic abuse. We also introduced rules for employers of women in the FTZ.

Among these were that women working on a night shift, must have a matron on duty and that they must be provided with transport too. We had officers from the Women's Bureau, going out on inspection, to see that employers adhered to the rules. The celebration of Womens Day, was also started when I was the Minister of Women's Affairs. Women were so motivated by the fact that this was their special day, that they came on their own, in their thousands to participate, with no transport provided."

The inception of The Seva Vanitha Movement, was during Sunetra's tenure as Minister of Women's Affairs. She and I worked together, as we were on the first steering committee of seven and later on the first working committee too. This was the brainchild of Mrs. J. R. Jayewardene, and we recalled with nostalgia, her resolute leadership, together with the inspiration she gave us to serve, with the minimum of publicity, followed her lead. The purpose of the movement, as she envisaged it, was to bond Women Ministers, wives of Ministers, women officials and the wives of officials together in service for the underprivileged. Many creches, daycare centres and thrift shops were started by the movement at that time. In 1989, with President Premadasa as President, Sunetra was made Minister of Educational Services. "President Premadasa, as you may recall, was a hard taskmaster.

He had his dream for the country, and we had to perform within this framework and time frame. The allocation of uniforms and textbooks for children were within my purview, and he wanted this done throughout the country at the same time. It was hard work but I was able to achieve his target and we gave these to 42 lakhs of children, in 10,000 schools at the same time, on the first day of school, throughout the country."

What of her present role? "The State Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a non-profit making body. There are 15 branches of Osu Sala in various places, and I mean to increase this number. During my tenure, we have opened branches in Amparai and in Kurunegala and hope to open one in Hambantota next month. Our aim is to bring medicine, which is a necessity, within the reach of everyone, everywhere in the country. We are also the main suppliers to the Director of Health Services, who in turn supplies the hospitals. I enjoy my work which is service to the people. I visit all Osu Sala's all over the country and visit India too, in the course of my work. 90 per cent of our drugs are from India, so it is important that we visit the factories to ascertain for ourselves, the production processes and have a look at the samples. I look at my work as another vignette of life. Politics to me, is not about emotion, it is about facts; emotion gets in the way of truth."

What about family commitment? "I have only one child, a daughter and have two grandsons. From childhood, I made it clear to my daughter, that her education was the most important thing and was a priority. She is now an accountant and works as financial controller in her husbands firm. My elder grandson spends a lot of time with me, and it amuses me when he calls me at weekends to remind me that we have a date. He first asks me if I have a meeting, a wedding or a funeral, before he plans our programme for the day."

Do you feel that there should be more women in politics and that there seems to be a reluctance among women to do so? "Yes, unfortunately, women seem to fear violence and character assassination. But I feel that if ones conscience is clear, and ones hands are clean, there is no need for fear."

Sunetra is direct and has a welcome lack of guile. Her myriad responsibilities rest easily on her slim shoulders. She is down to earth, unpretentious, dependable and loyal.

She is particularly clear sighted and self possessed, with none of the arrogance associated with these qualities. A woman of form and order. 'To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one', said John Ruskin. An apt description of Sunetra's thinking.

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