{"id":94390,"date":"2019-10-27T15:52:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T22:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=94390"},"modified":"2019-10-27T15:52:11","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T22:52:11","slug":"memories-of-development-at-the-g-as-conference-in-sri-lanka-and-as-a-consultant-in-bangladesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/10\/27\/memories-of-development-at-the-g-as-conference-in-sri-lanka-and-as-a-consultant-in-bangladesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Memories of Development: At the G.A\u2019s Conference in Sri Lanka and as a Consultant in Bangladesh"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In the Seventies, the Government Agent\u2019s Conference  was accorded great prominence.  The Government Agent  was the Head of the District and presided\nover as the Head of the District Coordinating Commiittee that coordinated all\ndevelopment programmes in the District. He was also the Head of the District\nAgricultural Committee. All allocations of funds were made to the Government\nAgent and its disbursement was  as\ndecided at the District Committee. He was in charge of a number of important\nDepartments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1972, I attended the\nGA\u2019s Conference. I was ready with all the Papers re the development programmes\nof the District, especially the Agricultural Development and the Divisional\nDevelopment Councils Programme which happened to be focused on at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conference got on its way, presided over by the Prime Minister\nMrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, with the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture\nplaying a major role. The  achievement in\npaddy production came into focus and everything was a success story. The Prime\nMinister as well as the Minister for Agriculture were very pleased  with the progress.  Finally in the last lap the Prime Minister\ncalled for any suggestions from the Government Agents in charge of the\nDistricts, to make the agricultural development programmes better. The Prime\nMinister was looking at the Government Agents and continued to gaze at us\nbecause  no one spoke. It was a\nformidable team including Bradman, Wijedasa and many other well known\npersonalities. It was fairly embarrassing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I thought of making a\ncontribution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would suggest that in the case of paddy production we get down\nto draft a plan for every cultivator, documenting the extent he cultivates, the\ntype of high yielding seed he uses, the inputs of fertilizer, when to use each\nvariety of fertilizer, find out in detail any difficulties the farmer has to\nface, whether loans are required  and\nplan meticulously to ensure that everything goes to plan. I am suggesting this\nbecause in actual practice such a per plot and per farmer plan are never done\ntoday and instead the Kryushikarma Vyapti Sevaka, the agricultural overseer at\nthe village level makes a total of the area cultivated and does calculations on\na general basis based on the average yield of paddy in the area…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 There ensued a\nstunning  silence with the Prime Minister\nlooking at the Minister of Agriculture and then discussing something with the\nSecretary to the Ministry. In around five minutes of silence, the Prime\nMinister looked at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you mean that in your District the current plan for paddy\nproduction does not function properly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was clear that the Prime Minister as well as the others had not\nunderstood what I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got up to detail what I had stated when someone from behind me\nheld my shoulder and pushed me down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me speak. I am the Director for Agriculture and I have gone\nthrough all the progress reports from every District and can state that Matara\nDistrict has done exceptionally well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His authoritative words saved me.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got up to clarify matters but the Secretary to the Ministry of\nAgriculture signaled me to stop and when I tried to continue speaking told me\nto stop which I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conference ended as usual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I was trying to state was that instead of making a general\ncalculation based on average yields, we would look into each farmer in great\ndetail, something that has never been done anywhere. We then had the trained\npersonnel, the Field Assistants and the Cultivation Committees of the\nDepartment of Agrarian Services, as well as the Vyapti Sevaka- the agricultural\noverseer of the Department of Agriculture. \nAfter the Conference I met the Secretary to the Ministry and he never\ninquired anything from me.  The Ministry\nbig shots thought no end of their knowledge and we were ignored. Naturally the\ncountry faced difficulties in paddy production in the years immediately\nafterwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I felt very uneasy and lost. I had carved a poor figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, to what happened in Bangladesh at a later date, where I\nserved as the Commonwealth Fund Advisor on Youth Development to the Ministry of\nLabour and Manpower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In  Bangladesh\nwhen the new Military Government of General Ershard took over the country in 1982,\nthe Department of Youth Development was providing skills training to 40,000\nyouths annually but the vast majority of them failed to find employment and\ncontinued to be unemployed for life. Immediately after the new Government took\nover the reins of power,  a Conference\nwas held, presided over by Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam, the Minister for\nLabour and Manpower to which the former Ministry of Youth Development was\nattached, to evaluate the youth development programmes  He expressed dissatisfaction.  He identified me to be an outsider and when\ntold that I was the General Advisor to the Ministry,  he ordered me in a sarcastic manner:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can you\ncontribute for Bangladesh\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In view of the fact\nthat the vast majority of youth whom we train continue to be unemployed, I\nwould suggest that you approve the implementation of a  self employment programme to supplement the\nskills training programmes  that are being implemented by the Department\nof Youth Development, where the lecturers who train the youths in skills will\nin addition, also guide the youths to establish enterprises to manufacture\nitems for sale and ultimately become self employed entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secretary to the\nTreasury, the highest official in the country who was present objected:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self Employment is\nnot a task that can be done. The International Labor Organization (ILO) with\nall their unlimited resources have just miserably failed to establish a self\nemployment programme at Tangail in Bangladesh. They laboured for three years\nand brought experts from all over and failed. It was a great loss \u2013 a massive\nexpenditure and this Government is not going to waste any more funds again.\nSelf Employment is not a task that can be done. That was the conclusion of the\nILO and they are the experts of international standing\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the ILO\nfailed,  I can establish a Self Employment Programme. I hold the\nexperience of establishing self employment units in Sri Lanka for eighteen\nyears and also hold the Ph.D in Agricultural Economics and Non Formal Education\nfrom Michigan State University. I am confident of success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. The Secretary to\nthe Treasury the highest official in Bangladesh laughed loud at my attempt to\nmake entrepreneurs out of school drop outs- the category from which the\nDepartment of Youth Development found youths for skills training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. I argued that\nthough the ILO failed I would succeed. I quoted instances where I had\nestablished  successful employment projects providing incomes to youths\nwhile simultaneously producing what the country imported. The battle went on\nfor an easy two full hours The Hon.Minister was listening in silence, making\nnotes, till his patience was exhausted.  The Minister finally ordered us\nto shut up. He asked for any  Government training programmes that guided\nyouths to become entrepreneurs. The Secretary to the Treasury replied None\u201d.\nThen the Minister asked for the number of youths that failed to get into higher\neducation or find a suitable job- the youths that will be scraping the barrel\nfor life,  unemployed. The Secretary answered that it was in the millions,\nevery year. The Hon Minister without any hesitation ordered that I should\nestablish a self employment programme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secretary to the\nTreasury stumped,  stating\u201a  that he will not provide any  \nfunds to establish a self employment programme, to which I replied that we will\nfind savings within the  approved budgets  for the skills training of\nthe youths and re deploy staff as necessary. The  Hon Minister \napproved my suggestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had won the day-\nthe task of establishing a new development programme without writing any\nfeasibility report. Of course the two hour grueling battle with the Secretary\nto the Treasury included facts,   figures\nand  arguments. It was a snap decision by\nthe Air Vice Marshall who allowed us to argue out, sussed the facts in his\nhead  and barked out a military like\norder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My task was to design\nthe self employment programme, establish it and train the staff to continue the\nprogramme after I left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started planning\nwork that night itself. It was a do or die\u201d assignment. The next morning I was\naddressing trainees at the training centers and also training our Lecturers and\nYouth Officers on how the programme should be done. The officers who had till\nthen done traditional youth development work were trained in concepts of\neconomics. All Training Institutes were immediately altered to Training Cum\nExtension Institutes where the youths in training were to be guided to become\nself employed. Overnight we established a countrywide special extension service\nfor the lecturers to go out on inspections and help the youths when they\nfaced  problems.  The youths were\nguided to draft their own projects to become self employed, starting small\nfarms even with a few cows or chicks. Dresses were sewn using the machines at\nthe training centers that were kept open after work till ten at night.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The method was to\nintensively guide the trainees in the management of their enterprises. Every\naction from the planning of their projects, to the purchase of raw materials,\nthe chicks, the feed, the process of manufacture, the process of the growth and\nsale of cattle, the making of garments and their sale was all monitored on a\nnon formal education  basis where the youths were trained to look at the\nadvantages and disadvantages of each course of action and act on their own.\nThey were monitored closely and helped when they failed. . The trainees were\ntaught basic economics related to their ventures\u201a  The training included\nunderstanding the free market economy and the youths were guided to think,\nunderstand and increase their ability and capacity in the process. This was non\nformal education in action. The achievement was within the village setting\nwhere the projects became family concerns with brothers and sisters becoming\ninvolved. On our visits, training sessions were provided impromptu where\neveryone could participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effort was to\nmake a youth movement to make youths establish ventures and guide them till\nthey are income bearing equal to the earnings of a clerical officer in the\nPublic Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Programme began\nat the end of March 1982 with a few trainees and was expanded to 2000 by\nOctober 1983. By the time I left Bangladesh at the end of October  1983-\nin  sixteen months my team was guiding 2000 youths.  The team\ncomprised the Secretary, the Joint Secretary of the Ministry with a few hundred\nstaff of Directors, Deputy Directors of Youth, Director for Livestock and Poultry\n, Directors of the 3 Residential Training Centers in Livestock & Poultry,\nLecturers in Training Institutes- all of whom were taught the essentials of\neconomics firstly to be able to analyse the economy of Bangladesh and to arrive\nat areas of economic activity where self employment production would be an\nasset to the country. They were also taught methods of imparting instructions\nin a manner that would evoke the active participation of the trainees and\nenable them to think and make their own decisions. This included national and\nregional planning culled down to the village level., where the self employment\nunits were established. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The officers were\npatriotic to the extreme. It was long hours every day for months Daily circuits\nin Toyota Hiace bone shakers- leaving early morning to return whenever. The\nofficials responded ably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 At that time\nTk. 500.00 a month was the salary drawn by a Clerical Officer in the Government\nService. Getting the youths to reach a net income of Tk. 500.00 was our aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Evaluation Report\ndone in August 1983, 16 months since commencement  states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Programme of\nExcellence in every respect  unfolds in the results documented. Of \n500 unemployed youths who joined the programme in the early months,  \n479 are earning  an average net income  of Tk 596.00 in August 1983,\n8 to 12 months after they commenced their commercial ventures, 55 of them earn\nover Tk. 1000.00 a month and 253 earn  over Tk 500.00.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 1983,\nbarely 16 months since the commencent, the achievement was hailed by the two\nSecretaries of the Ministry of Labour and Manpower; In their words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr.Karunaratne\u2019s\nsignificant contribution has been in the field of self employment to the\ndrop-out youths. This programme was not only designed but also guided by him.\nThis activity which was initially launched as a pilot experimental project has\nbeen a great success and has now being adopted as a fill-fledged Programme. The\nGovernment of Bamgladesh. has been successful in providing meaningful\nemployment to a large number of youths on this Programme\u201d .(Asafuddowlah)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Karunaratne\u2019s\nrole as the formulator of the program has been particularly commendable. It was\nmainly through his dedication and hard work that the pilot project has now been\nformally accepted as one of the most important development projects.\u201d (Ayubur\nRahaman)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Self Employment\nProgramme had phenomenal success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By \nAugust 1983, 16 months after commencement  The Department of Youth\nDevelopment  was training  2000 youths. The Programme was expanded\napace to involve 7000 youths by 1987, to 16,000 by 1992 and to 160,000 a\nyear  from 1997. In 1982 we had only 3 Residential Training Centers. This\nwas increased to 64 Centers by 1997.  In  2011 February  The\nGovernment of Bangladesh reported to the 34 th Session of the Governing Council\nof IFAD(FAO)  that this programme had guided as much as two million youths\nto be self employed\u201a  on  a commercially viable basis.(Statement to\nthe 34 th Session of the Governing Council of IFAD(FAO), dated19\/02\/2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The YSEP has stood\nthe test of time for over three decades (1982-2019) The Five Year Plan of\n1997-2002 of the Bangladesh Planning Commission, devotes 8 pages to this\nprogram. This is easily the premier employment creation program that one can\nfind in the world today. All other programs involve training and apprenticeship\nonly and never include the tasks of motivating youths, involving them in\nnon-formal education endeavor to develop their abilities and capacities,\nthrough technical guidance and management advice provided as they work on their\nprojects aimed at their  becoming commercially viable, which are the\ncornerstones on which this programme  has been based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of\ntraditional youth work, the aims of the Ministry had been altered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To facilitate the unemployed youth\nfor gainful employment\/self employment, providing vocational\/skills development\ntraining and micro credit support.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

         To\ninvolve the youth in the mainstream of national development process\u201d            <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am pleased that I\nwas able to make a distinct contribution to the economy of Bangladesh, a\ncontribution that perhaps no other person had ever done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel sorry that I\ncould not make a similar permanent contribution to my Motherland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garvin Karunaratne,\nPh.D.(Michigan State University)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Government\nAgent, Matara<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne, In the Seventies, the Government Agent\u2019s Conference  was accorded great prominence.  The Government Agent  was the Head of the District and presided over as the Head of the District Coordinating Commiittee that coordinated all development programmes in the District. He was also the Head of the District Agricultural Committee. All allocations of […]<\/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-94390","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\/94390","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=94390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}