{"id":112323,"date":"2021-03-04T17:18:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T00:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=112323"},"modified":"2021-03-04T17:18:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T00:18:05","slug":"why-the-13-th-amendment-is-inimical-for-our-development-and-how-it-will-create-a-separate-state-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/03\/04\/why-the-13-th-amendment-is-inimical-for-our-development-and-how-it-will-create-a-separate-state-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the 13 th Amendment is inimical for our development and how it will create a separate State"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne .<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

 I have in several of my\nPapers detailed as to  Why the 13 th Amendment should be abolished. I have\ndetailed my experiences in my eighteen years\u2019 service in the Administrative\nService implementing development programmes islandwide. To state briefly if I\nwere to work in either the agricultural marketing sector, the agrarian\nextension sector or the small industries sector I will not be able to achieve\nany target purely because the subjects are devolved(not decentralized) and the\nimplementation of any policy determined by the Minister working at the Centre,\non policies laid down by the Houses of Parliament  will depend on the\nwhims and fancies of the Provincial Ministers. Officers in the provinces takes\norders from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The full effect of the 13\nth Amendment even without devolving land and police powers has not yet been\nfelt because the Provincial Ministers have not asserted their full rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I am most thankful to Cecil\nDharmasena of the Department of Agriculture, for his insightful article that\nappeared in The Island of 22\/4\/2013. Let me quote a few of his words, which\nfully support my above statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to agricultural\nextension today he states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of an organized and\ncoordinated extension and advisory system today as we had in the past(prior to\nthe Provincial Administration System) where the Department of Agriculture\nthrough its comprehensive islandwide extension Division provided an efficient\nservice appears to be the biggest drawback in agriculture at present.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The situation today he says\nis that all types of agencies of the Provincial Councils and private sector\noffer confusing services\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He details what happened to\nthe Department of Agriculture after the implementation of the 13 th Amendment.\nThe Department was broken up, the research division broken into independent\ninstitutes, the extension service given to the Provincial Councils and the seed\nfarms sold to the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Harking back to my days\n\u201d\u2026\u201d up to 1973, the Department of Agriculture had a full control over the\ntechnical side of Agriculture. At the divisional level there was an\nAgricultural Instructor, an officer who had two years\u2019s study at the\nAgricultural School. Under him were several  Overseers- Krushi Vyapti\nSevakas at the village level. They had an year\u2019s training in agriculture. This\nwas an effective service. In addition, after the Paddy Lands Act was enforced\nin came the Agrarian Services Department with cultivation committees at the\ngrass roots level. This Department had Divisional Officers at the Divisional\nlevel and Overseers at the village level. The Overseers had an years\u2019 training\nin agriculture. The Cultivation Committees took over grass roots level\nplanning. Today the Paddy Lands Act is no more and the cultivation committees\ndo not exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Another important change\nthat took place is that the  Overseers of the Agriculture Department- the\nKrushi Vyapti Sevakas were all promoted as Grama Sevakas( now Grama Niladharis)\nduring the time of President Premadasa. No official trained in agriculture took\ntheir place.  After a few years\u2019 lapse when the Agricultural Instructor at\nthe Divisional Level did not have a single Overseer Assistant, during the days\nof President Kumaranatunge , O Level qualified youths were appointed as Niyamakas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This was the extension\nsystem that was bequeathed to the Provincial Councils. Cecil Dharmasena has\nstated that the efficiency of the extension system depended entirely in the\nhands of the Provincial Minister of Agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 My own experience with the\nagricultural extension system under the Provincial Council administration is\ndetailed in my book: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka.& Alternate Programs of\nSuccess\u201d\u009d.(Godages):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire  agriculture\ndepartment has to get a bone shake which I hope can get done. In about 1997,\nrunning my small family farm I had the occasion to visit the extension centers\nat Kadawata and Delgoda. The officers there did not know the exact amount of\nfertilizer that I should use and when. At my insistence they raked their files\nand provided me with details. The circular advised the use of  ammonium\nsulphate and urea  at the basal stage  and no mention was made of the\ntop dressing. \u00a6 About a year later I dropped into one of these Centers and to\nmy amazement  I found that even then  the top dressing had not been\nincorporated into the advice. . In our inefficiency we are wasting fertilizer.\u201d\u009d. This fully supports Cecil Dharmasena\u2019s statement that the\nextension system is in shambles. My comments pertain to the late Nineties while\nDharmasena speaks of the extension service of today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Sri Lanka is a small\ncountry which is smaller than a State in India and there is no necessity to\ndevolve any subject in administration. Under the 13 th Amendment we have\ndevolved many subjects and accordingly the extension sections of the Department\nof Agriculture and the Department oif Agrarian Services has been handed over to\nthe Provincial Councils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In my days in the Agrarian\nServices, I was once in charge of fertilizer distribution and we sent out the\nfirst circular on fertilizer use for the entire island and this was immediately\nenforced through the cultivation committees. Not so any more. The futility of\ndevolution is easily realized when one realizes that the Kegalla and Ratnapura\nDistricts which come under the Sabaragamuwa Province is only some 25 miles away\nfrom the City of Colombo. It is inimical for Provinces situated in close\nproximity to have an extension service that is not coordinated. In my days if a\ncircular left the main department signed by the Commissioner or his Deputy it\nhad to be effective. Not so now because one will have to contact the Provincial\nMinisters and cajole them. In my days as a Senior Assistant Commissioner any\ncommunication from me was acted on in the entire island on the next day. Not so\nnow my paper will sit on the Provincial Minister’s desk and mind you there\nare  a number of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It is also well known and\nnot disputed by anyone that the 13 th Amendment was drafted by India and\nimposed on our country under duress by Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of\nIndia. Though President Jayawardena shivered in his boots and gave in and\nforced his Members of Parliament to vote for it. The fact remains that\nPresident Jayawardena held all his members of parliament incarcerated in a Five\nStar Hotel and they were all marched to parliament to vote. What Democracy!\nThis fact is proved because the Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel shouted and\nstated that he was not among the incarcerated.   Though the Supreme\nCourt of Sri Lanka, also under duress (judges quarters were stoned),gave\nlegitimacy to it, the 13 th Amendment remains a foreign appendage onto our\nConstitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I am certain that if any\nProvincial Council asserts itself, the working of all Government Departments\nwill totally cease from the Centre and the implementation of the policies laid\ndown by Acts of Parliament can no longer be a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This will\nbe the situation once a TNA which is pro Tamil Nadu and also following the LTTE\nagenda of separation is elected.  The Government will be faced with a\ncrisis of severe dimension, a situation that will eventually lead to the\nformation of a separate State<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 All this is not surmise. As\nan experienced administrator with four decades\u2019 experience, I can sense what\nwill happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The abolition of the\n13 th Amendment is the only option if we are to remain a sovereign country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The International\nCommunity, India and the LTTE Diaspora whom we are trying to please by\nretaining the 13 th Amendment and implementing it are having their act cut and\ndry. Their one aim is to enable a separate State in the North and the East of\nSri Lanka and it is hoped that our leaders will realize this fact before it is\ntoo late.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It is\nupto our leaders to decide for our sovereignty.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

former GA Matara, International Consultant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4\/3\/2021<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne .  I have in several of my Papers detailed as to  Why the 13 th Amendment should be abolished. I have detailed my experiences in my eighteen years\u2019 service in the Administrative Service implementing development programmes islandwide. To state briefly if I were to work in either the agricultural marketing sector, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}