Time to deliver

Now that all Provincial Council polls (excluding the Northern Provincial Council, for which ground realities are yet to return to normal before polls could be held) are over and there is a new administration in each Council, it is opportune to ponder on the work of these institutions.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution that established the Provincial Councils was itself the result of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of June 1987, which was in a certain sense implanted by external forces rather by conscious understanding for such an arrangement.

Ironically the PCs functioned for the most part not in the North and East where it was supposed to devolve power to the people obliterating the need for political struggle for Tamil rights whether by peaceful or violent means. The short lived North-East Provincial Council had to be dissolved as it was bent on declaring UDI, virtually seceding the territory under its administration from the rest of the Motherland.

All that is history now. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Today we have entered a new phase in the development of the country. It also means a new stage in the development of democracy, both at the national and provincial levels.

Though the 13th Amendment is yet to come into full force with all its provisions becoming effective, a debate has also arisen whether it should be or could be implemented in full. Our intention here is not to answer that question but to cast a retrospective glance at the working of the PCs as they are at present in order for the new administrations to learn from experience and function more effectively.

Time and again there have been complaints that powers devolved are not enough and there is too much centralization. For example, though education is a devolved subject any upcoming and developing provincial school is taken over by the central Government. The same goes for roads, hospitals and many others.

On the other hand, the provincial authorities are unaware of the statutory powers of the PCs and very often seek instructions from the centre even when they have the powers to act independently. It would also be prudent to ask how many bills have the PCs enacted during their entire three-decade old history.

Most PCs excluding perhaps the Western PC lack adequate funds. Funds allocated by the central Government also come fairly late in the year. There is inadequate fiscal devolution which hampers the quantity, quality and pace of development work that the PCs could do. Since the PC system was imposed from above there has not been sufficient study of ways and means by which devolution of power could be devolved to the grassroots. Over emphasis on ethnic power devolution has affected even regions not so ethnically divergent.

If there is one positive factor that could be easily seen is the opportunity it provides to provincial leaders to climb the ladder of recognition and develop as national leaders. In other words, the PC system has helped develop a second level leadership.

On the other hand, many functions are duplicated resulting in a waste of funds and opportunities. There is some grain of truth in the allegations made by the public that PCs have become white elephants.

Nor have the PCs shown any enterprise and innovation. Nor have these provincial leaders matured sufficiently despite the not so uncommon foreign study tours that come at a colossal cost to the ratepayers.

Now that the UPFA has won all PCs it is high time that its leaders work out a systematic plan to develop the activities of these Councils. Politicians, both provincial and national have promised much during the hustings. It is time to deliver.

In terms of developments they should look for medium and small size projects for which finding capital, labour and technology should be comparatively easy. The craze for mega projects has resulted in many a project being abandoned halfway either due to lack of funds or lack of enthusiasm.

One way of improving the work of the PCs is to better ensure community participation in all their activities and harnessing local raw materials and other production factors for development work.

It would also be good if the provincial politicians show some initiative of their own to seek funding for local projects instead of trying to depend entirely on the central Government allocations. As a local adage says it is better to light up your own lamp rather than waiting to get light from the lamp of some one else.