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Sri Lankan delegation lauds decentralisation programme

Staff Reporter

24-member team undergoing training at KILA visits local bodies in Kannur

KANNUR: A 24-member team from Sri Lanka taking a training course on decentralisation at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) in Thrissur

seems impressed by the achievements of the State in successful implementation of devolution of powers through three-tier panchayat institutions. The team is here to study the process of decentralisation ahead of the Sri Lankan plan to decentralise the administration.

In an interaction with district panchayat members and officials here on Monday as part of their field visit in connection with the training programme, the team members, said the purpose of their visit to Kerala was to know more about decentralised planning and to explore if people's participation in development could be an answer to the ethnic conflict in their country. The team comprises 24 members, including Chief Secretaries of three provinces in Sri Lanka. Among the places they visited in the district were the Chapparappadavu grama panchayat, District Panchayat Biodiversity Park at Karimbam and the Science Park.

In an interaction held at the district panchayat hall, J.A.M. Karunaratna, Chief Secretary of North Centre Provincial Council, said the Sri Lankan Government had sent the team to study the decentralisation model in Kerala that had made great strides in bringing about peace and progress through grassroots level devolution of powers, he said.

The team members lauded the manner in which projects under the decentralisation programme had been implemented in Chapparappadavu panchayat.

S. Rangaraja, Chief Secretary of North East Provincial Council, said studies would be conducted on whether the agricultural and development programmes in Chapparappadavu panchayat could be implemented in Sri Lanka. The team would return to Kerala to study more about decentralisation when devolution of powers to local bodies is implemented in Sri Lanka, he said.

Chief Secretary of Upa Province Varnakalasoory Antony Thiseria was among the Sri Lankan team, which also included Deputy Chief Secretaries and Commissioners. District panchayat president K.K. Narayanan and vice-president M.C. Raghavan greeted the Sri Lankan team. KILA Director P.P. Balan was also present.

KILA International Training Co-ordinator T. Raghavan, who was accompanying the team, said the training programme began on January 4. The team would visit Alappuzha to see the functioning of a block panchayat, he said.

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