Dr. Leel Gunasekera:

Multifaceted contribution towards social development

Nimal RANATUNGA

It has become customary in our country to commend, evaluate and eulogise the contributions of various distinguished personalities towards diverse significant spheres to benefit the people. Their unique performances are appreciated with profound gratitude to such exemplary personalities felicitating them during their lifetime.

Dr. Leel Gunasekera is such a distinguished personality of higher calibre who deserves our salutation and commendation. He is a dynamic individual and an exemplary public servant well-known for his literary, cultural, academic and social service activities wherever he served.

A milestone of his life is the resounding success he achieved at the Ceylon Civil Service examination, the most competitive and the highly dignified examination at the time.

Noble qualities

He is a steadfast character effecting attitudinal changes at all levels, maintaining noble qualities of simplicity, generosity and politeness, while adhering to the esteemed traditions of the Ceylon Civil Service. Moreover he carved out a significant role during his entire service and maintained high standards of conduct and professional rectitude.

As senior class I officer of the Ceylon Civil Service Dr. Leel Gunasekera has served at higher levels in some of the most important Ministries such as Defence, Foreign Affairs, Youth Affairs, Cultural Affairs and Social Services. He too held high positions in some of the Departments and Institutions under those Ministries.

In Provincial Administration he was a popular G.A. in Mannar, Anuradhapura, Kegalle, Rathnapura and Kalutara Districts.

In Sri Lanka one of the highest assignments of responsibility which Dr. Gunasekera was privileged to hold was the post of Secretary to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, where the most veteran political leaders from all the important socialist parties - were the members. One of the crucial and beneficial tasks he accomplished with immense success was the rehabilitation of nearly 20,000 youths who were involved in the 1971 insurrection which was a gruesome menace highly detrimental to the harmony and the stability of the country. This he did as the Secretary to the Cabinet and as the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

The magnificence and the fame of Dr. Gunasekera as a versatile officer were exalted by the international assignments he was expected to undertake. He served as the Director of Asian Pacific Youth Development under the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1975 to 1978 operating from Chandigarh, India. From 1992 to 1995, he served as the Regional Adviser Social Development Policy and Planning United Nations ESCAP operating from Bangkok, Thailand.

Unique contribution

Among the officers of the Administrative Service he could be considered exceptional when his unique contribution to the field of literature and culture is evaluated. As a well-known National writer of repute he had achieved mastery in the diverse literary works he had compiled. His multifaceted creative brilliance combined with a superb taste and the inclination to appreciate aesthetic of high quality tended to enrich the Sri Lankan literature by contributing a variety of genius literary works. Few years back Sri Lankan Administrative Service Association featured him in their SASA Journal as a role model already emulated by their membership. As an eminent Man of Letters, he has authored three Novels, a collection of short stories, an Anthology of poems and seven Children’s Books. There are other remarkable publications including translations and research papers which are well-known to our readers. He is the founder President of the Sinhala Writers Organization, (est. in 1996) a Non-political organisation to promote literature and the well-being of the writers which steered the Intellectual Properties Act. He won the prestigious National State Award for creative literature for his novel ‘Pethsama’ (Petition) which is a Sociological study of the rural folk of the North Central Province. His creative publications are immensely appealing to the readers. Most of his novels explicitly depicted the serenity pathos and simplicity of the village life, admiring their way of life as exemplary and exhilarative.

Dr. Leel Gunasekera retired from the public service after an unparalleled and a distinguished career with a record of continuous impeccable service reaching the pinnacle of the Administrative structure. But his resourceful and dedicated service through various vicarious activities in several spheres did not wither away.

Characteristic elegance

He is one of our silver tongued orators grandiloquent who could address any audience on any subject with characteristic elegance. He is also much sought after as a resource person at seminars and conferences organised by various highly enlightened organisations. He is very often being invited to present the Key-note Address at several seminars embracing areas of paramount significance in the fields of Literature, Culture, Sociology, Aesthetic and Mass-communication.

Analytical perspective

He is not only a spellbinder but possessed the capacity and the skill to view and elucidate a problem from an analytical perspective and to enrich it with facts pertinent to the subject under discussion. Despite being preoccupied with challenging assignments he pursued his academic interests and qualified himself. He did his M.A. in Sociology in 1985 and later his Ph.D in 2005 at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. His research study has been on gerontology, a very relevant subject in view of the problems of the ageing population.

He enjoys the enviable honour of receiving fourteen Awards awarded by the State and Non-Governmental and social organisations. This unique recognition is mainly for being assiduously engaging himself in Literary, Cultural, Social Service, Community Development and Age Care activities. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs presented him with the ‘Deshanethru’ Award for his contribution to literature and culture. He received the Presidential Award for the laudable service as an eminent senior citizen who is extremely active. Last year the Sarvodaya prestigious National Award 2006 - was awarded to him for his Humanitarian and Community Development.

Another prestigious Award 2007 was awarded to him by HelpAge Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Social Services and Social Welfare for his esteemed service to enhance the quality of life of the Elderly in Sri Lanka and for distinguished social service activities. Out of the outstanding and eminent positions he held in various organisations after his retirement from public service, special mention should be made of his dedicated performance at HelpAge Sri Lanka. He was the first National Director of HelpAge Sri Lanka. His untiring and concerted efforts tended to strengthen it on a sound footing. He is highly commended for the significant innovations he introduced to transform HelpAge Sri Lanka into a dignified institution based on spiritual and cultural values nurtured by our ancient traditions.

Even today he is being considered an indispensable personality as his services are sought by various ministries and departments of the public service and several social and cultural organisations including local and international non Governmental organisations.

It is to his credit since 1960 he has been able to promote national harmony in association with writers and poets of the Tamil community through seminars and workshops, specially encouraging translation of literary and creative works in Sinhala to Tamil and vice versa.

Social Development

If one were to recognise the multifaceted contribution of Dr. Leel Gunasekera towards Social Development, literature and culture during the past five decades through the State and Non Governmental sectors Nationally and Internationally, it is undoubtedly an outstanding and a farsighted effort with relevance for personality development, social well-being and national integration at a time when our value system is disintegrating.

Our best wishes to Dr. Leel Gunasekera to continue his noble and unique contributions.

(The writer is a former Director of Education and presently Director of the Education Division of HelpAge Sri Lanka).