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| Monday, 8 September 2003 |
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The recent articles by Prof. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole and Dr. R. B. Ranaraja published in Daily News on universities/education and also in some other daily newspapers indicate the sad plight of the university system in Sri Lanka. There were news of massive financial corruption in Sri Jayewardenapura and Sabaragamuwa Universities. A large student hostel at Kohuwela, bought by SJP University for a few millions of rupees remained unoccupied for a very long time. In another university the V.C. has rented a house in January, 2003 at a monthly rental of Rs. 15,000 but the house remained unoccupied for almost six months. A former VC of a university has indicated that two academics who did not have the required marks, were appointed as Professors. A Dean of a University had been using a laboratory attendant in the Faculty to cook his meals and serve tea. These and other irregularities reign in the university system, although there is a gamut of offices and bodies to prevent such irregularities. In a university, the Vice Chancellor and Deans are the administrative Heads who are responsible for the effective functioning of a university, under the control and guidance of the University Council. Vice Chancellors are appointed by the President of Sri Lanka, from among the Professors or any other academic staff for a period of 3 years. The academic staff of a Faculty elects the Dean for a period of three years from among the Heads of Departments of the Faculty. The council has wide powers, duties and functions. The outside members of the council are appointed by the UGC on the advice of the Minister of Tertiary Education. If the council members, Vice Chancellor and the Deans of a University are honest, committed and effective, the alleged malpractices and irregularities of some universities reported recently would not have taken place. It is the responsibility of the UGC to see that these malpractices and irregularities are "nipped off in the bud". However the UGC appears to be inactive and ineffective. Anjalika Silva from the USA, in her letter published in Daily News of 27th August has pointed out that "Sri Lanka has reached unprecedented levels of degradation in discipline, morals and values that human civilisation strives to accomplish". She was referring to the case where the UGC has admitted 47 inadequately qualified students to the medical faculty. This reminds me of an incident which took place when Prof. Stanley Kalpage was UGC Chairman (he was the first UGC Chairman). The then Minister of Education wanted to get a student, a daughter of a very powerful businessman, transferred to Peradeniya Medical Faculty. Prof. Kalpage vehemently objected and the end result was that the Minister of Education was transferred to another ministry. It is unfortunate that men of such integrity are disappearing from the country. A.C, Ratmalana. While strongly asserting that local telephone calls should be free or charged only nominally. I disagree with Dr. Mareena Reffai on her views about the new tariff scheme that comes into effect on 1.9.03. It is true that the cost of living has reached unendurable heights, but since the SLT must/will levy call charges, I am sure the 200 free units offered by them will be a bonus even/especially to the lower middle class. If one has a telephone, surely one wants to use it - perhaps sparingly but at the same time yearning to have a chat without watching the minutes tick by! I am sure any subscriber would have hitherto had a monthly bill of Rs. 450 however carefully he used it. Of this, Rs. 240 went as rental and Rs. 210 as call charges. If, as Dr. Mareena Reffai suggests, SLT were to charge Rs. 200 as rental and Rs. 3 per unit for the first 200 units we'll be able to speak for 80 mts. during peak hours or for 240 mts. during the economy period or for 720 mts during the discount period - to maintain the call charges at Rs. 250. But under the new scheme, for the total sum of Rs. 450 we can speak for 200 mts, 600 mts, or 1800 ms. respectively in the aforementioned time zones. Moreover, we must appreciate that the discount period beings at 9 p.m. (instead of 10 p.m.) which is a reasonable hour at which we can talk to anyone at length. The only circumstance under which one can get cheated is when the entire family goes on an extended holiday which I am sure seldom or never happens. THILAHA YOGANATHAN, Colombo 6 Today there is a huge hue and cry about the farmer and his harvest. There are various schools of thought, being voiced. Sadly, all these views are based on the same lines of an article written by me in the "SUN" news paper of 24th November 1978. There is a difference between then and now. Then Prima did not exist. Therefore wheat was imported in the form of flour but now in grain form. Thus in 1978 when we faced a similar situation of surplus rice (not due to being self-sufficient but due to political bungling same as today) and the then government was making arrangements to export the rice to Indonesia, in my article I advocated that this rice should not be exported but used to make rice flour and introduced into the market so that our people will get used to products from rice flour as against wheat which is a big burden to us all. Since all right thinking citizens and everyone including the Industrial Technology Institute are today voicing their concern more or less on the same lines as I did way back in 1978, all of which I sadly predict will fall on deaf ears knowing very well our politicians who are governing the country, I would like to focus everyone's attention into another side of this rice episode which no one has yet thought of with a view to opening a dialogue to find genuine solutions in similar crisis situations barring corruption. This time I am referring to the sale of 35,000 m/t to Prima and the export of this surplus yield of rice. I would like to start with some questions and answers. a) Are we self-sufficient and selling the surplus? No, not at all - this surplus is again a result of very bad planning as in 1978 because there is so much of imported rice in the country and 30,000 m/t of rice is yet on its way. b) Through various TV news broadcasts, we were made to understand that some private institution had come forward to purchase this surplus from the farmer at Rs. 15 but finally Prima had paid only Rs. 11/50. However, since the Government had promised the farmer 13/50 to keep their promise they paid the Rs. 2 deficit from their coffers. Doesn't this in another way mean that some favour was done to Prima and/or that the Rs. 2 subsidy was afforded to Prima? c) On top of the subsidized rate at which the rice was sold to Prima a rebate of Rs. 9 on rice exports was also immediately effected. Don't you see even this as a favour done to Prima? It is not the poor farmer or the poor citizen of this country but it is Prima who has got the benefit of Rs. 11 from the Government. d) What would be the right thing to do when we are reaping good harvests? Is it to give rebates and subsidies to wealthy companies to export the rice and create a scarcity of rice or increase the import duty to restrict imports and keep all our locally produced rice here in our country for our consumption? What will become if the export of rice continues before we become self-sufficient is that imports will continue and the current price of Rs. 26 per kilo will appreciate and sometimes before too long we may have to pay Rs. 50 for our kilo of rice. My appeal today is that export of all locally produced rice should be banned. Imports curtailed until we achieve self-sufficiency. All subsidies given to the farmer should be from the State and not the private sector. The farmer must be assured of a floor price. The Government must always hold a buffer stock of 2 months in their warehouses to be released in an emergency situation such as crop failure. Give maximum exposure to the Industrial Technology Institute's efforts. And finally in a situation like today when we are having a surplus, call for bids and open the sale to everyone or progress slowly towards the auction system like the tea and coconut auctions. S. HASSIMMANTARA, Galle Sri Lanka Telecom must understand that Sri Lanka is an educated country and that all schoolgoing children (even in big schools) are taught Arithmetic in primary classes and in all nursery schools. They cannot cheat the public anymore. They know their Arithmetic. With the present doubling of the monthly rentals only a very few people could have telephones as paying a rent of Rs. 500 a month is not possible for the poor class. In Wanathamulla of Colombo 8, most of the small houses with only two sections (200 sq. feet) have telephones. They even do not have electricity. The telephone is no more a luxury. It has become a necessity with the development with time. On the current rentals of Sri Lanka Telecom only the siblings of race bookie owners, kasippu mudalalis, heroin dealers and illegal butchers etc. may be able to have telephone services. COLVIN DE SOYSA, Colombo 8. How many of us think of the Rupees and Cents that we handle and deal in our day to day life. Where have the good old one cent, two cents, five cents and even the ten cents coin gone to. They have all disappeared from our daily bills and our account books and also from our grocery dealers. Those small lovely coins will never see the light of day as they have been thrown into some unknown place with no one caring for them as there is no value in them at all. Most of these ordinary rupees and cents coins are almost gone out of circulation for ever and the Central Bank need not worry about minting these small coins any more. Still the twenty five cents and fifty cents coins have some sort of a place in the exchange system specially when the shop keeper or the grocery store man give you a toffee for the balance as he has no change for the twenty five cents and fifty cents coins. Then come the one rupee, two rupee and five rupee coins and also the ten rupee coin of various designs depicting the figure heads of some of our great people and also the glory of our ancient civilization. Here we often make a mistake for the ten rupee coin with that of a two rupee coin and sometimes to the detriment to the customer. Some of these coins are not enough to a buy a chew of beetle or a few of these coins added together may give you a chance to buy a loaf of bread or the morning newspaper. Then come the ten rupee note, twenty rupee note, fifty rupee note and the one hundred rupee note. At times they have some sort of a face value. These notes may sometimes give you a twinkle in your eye because you will be able to buy a few things from the local grocery shop - may be some vegetables, green leaves and some times one fourth piece of a jack fruit. In just a few more years these small notes may also not have any buying value at all the printing of these notes some lower denomination will be waste of some currency paper. Then come the five hundred rupee note and the thousand rupee note and anyone having one or two of these notes will heave a sigh of relief that will have a kind and sympathetic answer to some of our weekly or daily domestic problems but some domestic items like fish or meat will be out of the question. Then going with these notes to buy some medicine for your children or for some of your elders at home you will see stars when the prices of the some items in the prescription are asked for. If you are a heart patient it will beat faster and the purchaser may be some times in a daze. Of course with these rupees and cents there are other items of expenditure in the household such as - health problems, bus fares for workers and children and the ordinary clothing and even social services. All these things are in the day to day adventure of life with no beginning or end. We have to use our pay packets and incomes with lot of sense and care if not the rupees will have no sense. What ever it is we all must grin and bear up all these rectitudes of life in this brave new world. D. T. GOONASEKERA, Ratmalana. |
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