New world order:

Bridging gap between developed, developing countries

Address by Member of Parliament and President Democratic People’s Congress Praba Ganesan at the GOPIO Annual International Conference, London on October 26, 2010

The conference is also deliberating two most important themes crucial for the wellbeing not only of Indian Diaspora but also of the entire humanity.

New international economic order is very relevant to the Indian Diaspora which emerged from a developing country.

Praba Ganesan, MP

The New Order came into being in 1970’s because of the attempts made by some developing countries to promote their interests by improving their terms of trade and increasing and development assistance. It was also meant to reverse the former international order which favoured the developed industrialized countries. It was not possible for the newly independent countries to achieve an even and balanced development along with other developed countries under the former Economic Order.

Broadest cooperation

Developing countries, which constitute 70 percent of the world’s population, account for only 30 percent of the world’s income. The new order was put forward to bridge the gap between the developed and developing countries. The new order emphasized the sovereign equality of countries, broadest cooperation of all members of the international community whereby the disparities in the world may be eradicated and prosperity secured for all. Moreover, extension of active assistance to developing countries by the whole international community was also one of the major principles of the new economic order.

Indian Diaspora

I think the Indian Diaspora which is gathered here in this august assembly representing both the powerful and developing nations should seek ways and means of promoting the developing countries specially, their mother country India to develop and reach the levels of developed countries through their international assistance programmed. It is possible to eradicate the gap hitherto prevailed between India and other countries.

The Indian Diaspora should help India to benefit from their technological and professional knowledge and in respect of their investments in order to lessen the dependence of India on international aid and financial agencies in these areas.

I am glad to inform you that my participation in this conference strengthens the relationship between the 1.4 million Indians living in Sri Lanka and millions of the Indian Diaspora living throughout the world. My people in Sri Lanka were living in isolation for several decades without much interaction with the rest of their brethren spread over in other countries.

The 1.4 million Indians living in Sri Lanka constitute a very important component of the multi-ethnic polity of Sri Lanka. It is also an important point that my people are in a position to preserve their language, culture and traditions during the past 170 years of their history in Sri Lanka. I should say that there was no attempt on the part of the state to impose the majority language or religion on the Indian people. All Indians are able to use their mother tongue Tamil as their medium of instruction and follow their religion.

Voting rights

Also please mention that Ceylon Indian Congress fore runner to CWE this was initiated by Sri Nerhu. He was sent to Ceylon to attend the needs of Indians by Mahathma Gandhi. Above all the Indian Diaspora, we the Indians in Sri Lanka live closer to India. Soon after Independence in 1948, the government of the day passed legislations which deprived the citizenship and voting rights of the Indian community. Around one million people became stateless. Consequent to two Indo-Lanka agreements around 700,000 Indians were repatriated to India.

After a protracted struggle and pressures exerted by the Indian people and their leaders the issue of statelessness was resolved through several acts of Parliament. This was also due to the cooperation extended by the leaders to the then government in its program for national development. It became possible for the Indians to elect their representatives to the Parliament and Provincial Councils who played a crucial role in forming the government by major political parties of Sri Lanka.

In a way Indian Tamils were in a position to join the Sri Lankan main stream after the resolution of the long standing citizenship issue. Major role played by late Minister Sri S Thondaman.

Plantation community

Since 65 percent of the Indian population is confined to the plantations the community is also known as plantation community and in official terminology the community is known as Indian Tamils. It is true that the Indian community in Sri Lanka is predominantly a working class one but in recent times there is a community of leading businessmen and industrialists who have emerged from the plantations.

I am very happy to say that this community of new entrepreneurs have made several arrangements and developed projects to promote the higher education of several plantation youth. They contribute enormously to the scholarship fund administered by the Indian High Commission. They have their own scholarship schemes to help hundreds of under graduates enrolled in the university system. It is not out of place for me to state that access to higher education to this segment of the population is highly limited in Sri Lanka. Out of total number of 65,000 students enrolled in the system only about 500 are from the Indian Community. Their representation in the Sri Lankan universities is remarkably low and this has led the community to remain without moving forward in respect of its socio-economic development.

There is a lack of highly educated economists, educationists and sociologists who can constitute a think tank to formulate policies and strategies for the future development of the community.

Education institutions

Through this conference I wish to enlighten the members of the Indian Diaspora about the present status of my community.

Although my community has been identified as disadvantaged throughout the history in respect of education, health and other socio-economic conditions, in recent times some remarkable progresses were made under the leadership and guidance of the leader late Sri Thondaman. This was made possible by his support to the government in its efforts to bring about socio-economic development. The leaders of the Indian Tamils were in the forefront in supporting the government in establishing a united Sri Lanka. There have been Indian Tamil Parliamentarians such as Thondamam, P Chandrasegaran and Arumugam Thondaman holding Cabinet Ministerial position and contributing towards formulating policies pertaining to national development. As I mentioned earlier the community still remains disadvantaged but the conditions prevailed in earlier decades are vanishing. There are some institutional developments in respect of education which are remarkable.

Higher education

The community has developed two teacher education institutions and one technical college. At primary level the enrolment of Indian children is very satisfactory and has reached the national averages; literacy rates are on the increase. More than six hundred schools in the plantation districts are serving this community. All teachers are selected from the community and appointed as government teachers. These schools are supervised by officers from the same community.

These are few positive developments which are worth mentioning. In recent times a demand for a separate University for our people was put forward by the intellectuals-educationist and economists such as Prof S Sandarasegaram, Prof M Sinnathamby and Prof M S Mookaiya who emerged from this community.

This demand itself is an indication that the community has developed new aspirations in respect of higher education which is crucial for the community to emerge as a knowledgeable community in the context of emerging knowledge economy.