An all-embracing Human Resources Policy - Minister Gunasekara

A Human Resources Policy is in the offing. This is being done on a decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers, said Human Resources Senior Minister D. E. W. Gunasekara during an interview with the Daily News.
 

Following is the interview:

Q: What are your plans in 2012 to push forward Mahinda Chinthana - Vision for the future?

A: A Human Resources Policy is in the offing. This is being done on a decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers. We worked on this during the last six months. A Steering Committee consisting of ministry secretaries, academics, experts etc. has been appointed. A draft of the proposed policy will be published in newspapers soon. It is on the web now calling for public views and inputs. A lot of stakeholders are involved in the process.

Our unemployment rate is only about five percent but unemployment among educated youths is very high around 16 percent. Only 22 percent are science graduates and all others are arts graduates. Therefore, we need an overall change in our education system. The proposed Human Resources Policy embraces all areas. We are preparing the policy to push forward Mahinda Chinthana - Vision for the Future considering the development in the local and international job market. A value should be added to all education certificates such as Ordinary Level, Advanced Level and Degrees. There is a big demand for nurses etc. in foreign countries, but we are not producing them. If we can send them abroad they will be able to earn three times more than their local salary.

Q: President Mahinda Rajapaksa completed his second year in his second term. What are the significant landmarks of the past few years?

A: The second term of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a victory itself. It is because if we go through the Presidential Elections results, no President in the world had been able to secure more votes in his/her second term than the first term. Some of them lost the election. But President Rajapaksa secured 57 percent of the votes and won by a majority of 1.8 million votes to be elected for the second term. It was mainly due to the victory of the humanitarian operation and eradicating terrorism. During our humanitarian operation, we faced many global crises, such as, the global financial crisis, food crisis, energy crisis, etc. But in spite of all, we managed to secure an average six percent growth rate. We embarked on a massive development drive to improve infrastructure facilities and this is the biggest development drive that has commenced since Independence. The disparity of the percentage of GDP among the Western Province and other provinces in the country minimized.

Our per capita income has almost doubled. For the first time in history, regional development is taking place. The rural economy is being developed. We have a significant foreign exchange reserve. All economic fundamentals are intact despite the war. The second term victory of President Rajapaksa is more significant than the first term victory.

Q: What will happen in connection with the recommendations made in the COPE report?

A: During the Cabinet meeting held on January 25, President Mahinda Rajapaksa brought to the notice of the Cabinet the importance of the recommendations made by the Committee on Public Enterprises of Parliament (COPE) and informed the Cabinet ministers to direct the secretaries to their ministries to take action to implement these recommendations. President Rajapaksa emphasized the need for the secretaries to strictly abide by the guidelines stipulated by the General Treasury in dealing with matters pertaining to Public Enterprises and to avoid recurrence of instances of irregularities identified by the COPE.

We examined 229 institutions. This is an achievement for us because we examined the entire number of institutions this time. In the 2006 to 2010 period, only 110 institutions were examined. We worked hard and sometimes we sat on public holidays. I submitted the report to Parliament on December 1 enabling the MPs to use the materials of the report for budget debate. I sent copies of the report to all ministry secretaries soon after tabling it in the Parliament because ministry secretaries (Chief Accounting Officers) hold the responsibility and accountable for financial issues according to the Sri Lankan constitution. Minister Sarath Amunugama and I held a lengthy discussion with all ministry secretaries in the presence of secretaries to the President, Treasury and the Parliament during a recent meeting.

This is the first time in history follow-up action is being taken and such a discussion held. According to the guidelines of the COPE report, annual reports should be submitted on time. Corporate Plans should be prepared and up to date. Audit queries sent by the Auditor General should be replied on time. Audit and Management Committees should be set up and meet regularly. Board of surveys should be conducted regularly. Disciplinary action/ legal action should be taken against culprits. The secretaries have to report back to the COPE. Chief Accountants are responsible for those tasks.

According to COPE report findings, certain matters connected to certain institutions have already been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Bribery and Corruption Commission. There were very glaring irregularities in some state departments and enterprises. There were instances where the Public Enterprise Act was violated.

Q: Comment on the LLRC report and the Parliament Select Committee (PSC)

A: The LLRC report is very objective and comprehensive. It is a positive report. They have worked within their mandate given by the President. The report says that the problem had been created by politicians and it has to be solved by politicians. It says the politicians are not unwilling or incapable of finding a solution. We should not let go of this golden opportunity as we did in the past. We have to shed our differences, compromise, accommodate, talk and come to a consensus without sticking to our own political views. We have to find a practically implementable solution. The LLRC has only given directions.

Q: What will be the impact of the JVP split and the UNP power struggle on the country's future?

A: Internal crises such as leadership struggles do occur in political parties. In 2004 the JVP came with the SLFP and won 39 seats. But the JVP miscalculated this and overestimated the same. They thought they had support from all over the country. They did not show their performance while having the opportunity to do so. They missed that opportunity and overestimated their strength. Now they have only three seats in Parliament. Their political strategies are not matched with the people's wishes. The people do not like rapid changes. By supporting former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka the JVP lost the remaining votes. The JVP split thrice and now the radical group split from their own party.

When a political party continuously fail to win elections, a demand comes from the grass roots level to change the horses. In addition to the leadership crisis, the UNP has a policy crisis. The Opposition leader has a neo-liberal economic policy. It has already failed all over the world including where it was born (US). The internal discussions were held for a change but failed. Since there is no strong Opposition in the country, anarchist tendencies come in the form of religion and nationality etc. It is a threat to the democracy. But it did not happen in 1977 when we (the leftist opposition) never let anything pass in the Parliament without a debate. There were only eight Opposition MPs in Parliament at that time but we were powerful. That is why we are in power today. Late President J.R. Jayewardena who introduced 1978 Constitution never thought that another political party will come into power defeating the UNP but we did.

Q: How do you describe the current situation of the world political arena and the latest local developments such as the unrest in state universities etc.?

A: The world order has been challenged. The balance of world power is changing. The Asian economy is now leading the world economy after 500 years. All Asian countries have more than five percent of GDP growth. All 33 Latin American countries formed one union. Africa has been democratizing. In the Arab world, moderate Islamic governments are coming into power. In this scenario, we have to take those tendencies into our consideration and look into the local situation. Unrest in state universities is a reflection of anarchist tendencies promoted by the weak Opposition.

Q: Do you have any special message to the public?

A: We have to learn from our past experiences. The JVP and the UNP should take the realities into account and plan their strategies without promoting anarchist tendencies. We have to concentrate on educated unemployed youth and around 62 percent of the people who are employed in the informal sector. This is small and medium scale industries. They have lower purchasing power and the government should assist to advance their purchasing power. Attention should be paid towards developing human resources. Attention should be paid to find a political solution for the ethnic issue.