|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 2 December 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Fifty years of Kandyan peasantry development in retrospect by S. B. Karalliyadde Foreign funding through donor agencies and governments to develop the North-East and hive of activities by NGOs to implement various rehabilitation, reconstruction and development programmes for the area which are on the pipelines.
Civilian population in open arms to receive the charity. Politicians with their own agendas are supporting wholeheartedly the process of going through proposed multi-million development efforts since Independence. Similarly in the South and West of the country political leaders have taken upon themselves the responsible tasks of developing their regions - new air ports, harbours, urban centres other common amenities for the people are planned and inaugurated. But regret to say the area defined as the Kanda Udarata in the 1815 March Kandyan convention including Uva, Matale, Tunkorale, Walapane, Wellassa, Bintenna, Tamankaduwa, Nuwara Kalaviya and the areas coming under the economic region of the Central Province so defined as the Up Country Peasantry Rehabilitation Area now and then known as the Kandyan Peasantry Commission area has not drawn sufficient attention of the powers that be to merit the benefits of massive billion-dollar donor conglomerate while trying to uplift the poor peasants of the area from their slumber after the catastrophic blows received consequent to their uprising against the colonial masters in the famous Uva Rebellion of 1817/1818. They have no powerful lobby groups behind them like in other areas mentioned earlier, no Thomian groups, Royal groups to their rescue and so go on regardless, with the legacies inherited from the pre Independent era. Suffice it to compare with some other districts with several University Campuses - Uva Wellassa upto date has not a single campus of similar degree awarding level. To illustrate the disparity in the system of admissions of Universities in 1991/92, 20% of the total admissions were from Colombo District having a population of two million, when the seven districts in the up country area with a population of over five million only 22% were eligible to enter a University. Even the area quota basis and other special concessions given to disadvantaged areas failed to narrow the imbalance gap in University admissions. I quote from Uva Journal from a minute made by Herbert White who was a British Government Agent in Badulla after the Uva rebellion. "It is a pity that there is no evidence left behind to show the exact situation in Uva in terms of population or agriculture development after the rebellion. The new rulers are unable to come to any conclusion on the exact situation of Uva before the rebellion as there is no trace of evidence left behind to come to such conclusions. If thousands died in the battle they were all fearless and clever fighters. If one considers the remaining population of 4/5 after the battle to be children, women and the aged the havoc caused is unlimited. In short the people have lost their lives and all other valuable belongings. It is doubtful whether Uva has at least now recovered from the catastrophe". Why neglected? History records the many rebellions and wars fought against the British Raj by the people of these areas the Kandyan wars in 1802, 1803, 1805 the Uva rebellion of 1817/18 Matale rebellion of 1848 fought against the draconian legislations introduced in 1840,1856,1878 etc. To put a long story short it is relevant to quote Sir A. C. Lawrie "the story of the British rule in the Kandyan country during the rebellion of 1818 cannot be related without shame. "By 1819 hardly a member of the leading families remained alive, those whom the sword and the gun had spared, cholera and small-pox and privations had slain by hundreds, any subsequent efforts by the government to develop Kandyan areas were only attempts begun and abandoned". It was in this background that the first Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake appointed the Kandyan Peasantry Commission and in January 1953 and the Cabinet decided to launch the Kandyan Peasantry Rehabilitation Programme. The year 2003 marks the 50th year after such rehabilitation and reconstruction activities were implemented to ameliorate the conditions of the class of people living in the areas coming within the ambit of the K. P. C. The Presidential Commission appointed in 1994 to evaluate the performance and achievements of the Kandyan Peasantry Rehabilitation efforts observed that "there are still deficiencies and the main objective of improving the living conditions of the people remained illusive, the region continued to lag behind and the people continue to be poor backward and disadvantaged. "The pace of development has been slow and uneven". The National Human Development Report of the UNDP 1998 states that out of the 17 districts (North & East excluded) where the consumptive poverty exceeds 50% are all Kandyan Districts. All the districts where the abject "human poverty" is over 25% are Kandyan districts. The average per capita gross regional domestic product (GRDP) for the central region is 34% lower than the average figure for the whole country according to JICA report for 1994. It is reported that 46.2% of the total number of families in the K. P. R. Commission area are food stamp recipients which means a household of five members earn less than Rs. 700/- a month. The tale of woe is reflected in every aspect of their life and is endless. It is to address these problems that a new plan of action and strategies are necessary. The Prime Minister's new vision for accelerated sustainable economic and infrastructure development for the entire country has created five economic regions. The Central Region Economic Ministry area covers the entire area of the Up Country Peasantry Rehabilitation Commission. The Minister in-charge of the subject has given a new dimension to his approach to the problem. The entire period after setting up of the KPC and subsequent periods under the UPR never approached the problems faced by the people in any logical, methodical, scientific modern problem solving process. Instead more emphasis was given to appointment of advisory body consisting of majority of members who had to be given political asylum for a period. Come what may this is the only time in the half century of existence that the Minister has appointed a Special Task Force for strategic action planing consisting of highly eminent academics, internationally acclaimed scientists, planners, professors, administrators and an assorted section of a few from other disciplines under the Chairmanship of a former Peradeniya Vice Chancellor a product of Cambridge. For the first time the Task Force is comprised of representatives from the three major ethnic groups living in the area coming under its authority. The village estate integration process is addressed and prioritized for the first time in the history of the KPC. Action plan is ready and it is hoped that the cool room "Pukka Sahibs" will not see it as another Institution to run concurrently or as a duplication or an infringement of their domain to undermine their jealously guarded authorities and privileges. The entire future of the Kandyan peasantry is in the hands of the representatives whom the people mandated to decide their future. It is therefore necessary that the government, the donor agencies and other concerned institutions, the NGOs and all those interested in the welfare of the peasantry give their patronage and blessings for the success of this programme. I conclude this article with a poem murmured by Rev. Degaldoruwa Unnanse seated on the threshold of the Dalada Maligawa after the surrender of the king to the British. Ane Kumbiyane - topatat rejek inne Mokada karanne - ape karumeta apata vanne Rajek lebunothin - eda kiribath kannan Perehera karannan - sadu nadin gigum dennan (Writer is a former member of Parliament) |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
