Appreciation: P.M. Leelaratne

It is three months since our Secretary Mr. Leelaratne left us with a suddenness that greatly enhanced our shock and sadness-all the more because what had confronted us during his tenure in the Ministry was a seemingly inexhaustible store house of energy.

Mr. Leelaratne, as we learnt from him, had his origins in a typical Sri Lankan rural setting, attended the Baddegama Ratanasara school for primary education then has got readmitted to Karandeniya Central College for secondary education.

His ascent in the academic ladder is without doubt attributable to his inborn talents and the unshakable determination to overcome whatever obstacles he came across in his career, whether academic or professional.

He was richly rewarded in his efforts when he secured a good degree in education-which won for him a place in the university teaching staff. His early grounding in education and his commitment to that field was manifested even after he ventured into a new path in his professional career by achieving success at the highly competitive examination for entry into the Sri Lanka Administrative Service.

Once in the Administrative Service, he applied himself with the commitment that marked his entire career in the public service. He stepped into a series of progressively higher positions in several fields and was finally rewarded with the plum of the public service-having been selected as Secretary, in succession, to as many as five ministries-no mean achievement even in a country of unparalleled ministry multiplication.

Mr. Leelaratne covered a wide academic spectrum-starting with Education, proceeding to Human Resource Development and further widening his horizons by venturing into the field of Law with a law degree gaining entry into the legal profession as an Attorney-at-Law.

These achievements were all attributable to the combination of a sharp and inquiring mind with concentrated effort. He spoke with a sense of pride about his determined effort to overcome the language handicap, common to most of our generation, which had dogged the early years of his career.

Not only did he overcome this to reach an enviable degree of fluency in English later on, but he also acquired proficiency in French Language.

Mr. Leelaratne was a man of character, a principled man. He would say with justifiable pride that what ever position he secured in the public service was on merit and merit alone. He neither needed nor sought political patronage for any of the many appointments he got. In turn, in his dealings with his staff he never permitted any consideration other than merit to influence his decisions.

In his last major assignment- Secretary Ministry of Tourism, true to form, he applied himself to the challenges that the industry faced which he rightly regarded as the ministry’s responsibility to address, with such commitment that he even overlooked due attention to his health. He appreciated the enormous potential of tourism in propping the country’s economy up and was working on ambitious plans to harness this potential for the country’s benefit when his life was so tragically cut short.

Mr. Leelaratne was a very devoted family man. The extent of his family’s dependence on him cannot be exaggerated and a sense of irreparable loss would have overcome them. As we share their loss, we can only hope that they will face the situation with courage and fortitude. Let the shinning example of the father inspire the two children to achieve their academic goals as a foundation for a successful future.

The country has lost an exemplary public servant. We in the Ministry of Tourism can testify to this without reserve. What is more we have lost an efficient and just administrative head and a good human being

May he attain the supreme Bliss of Nirvana and may his bereaved family have, in the fullest measure, the Blessings of the Triple Gem.

K.A.D. George Michael, Secretary Ministry of Tourism