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Sri Lankan team meets Aiyar

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka is studying the Indian system of devolution of power to local self governments and involving people in decision making to find a solution to the ethnic conflict there.

A 13-member all-party parliamentary delegation from Sri Lanka that is here to study the Indian Panchayati Raj system on Friday had a long interaction with the Union Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to understand decentralisation.

"We are studying devolution of power here and have been mandated to come out with some framework that could be the basis of our talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and could form the basis of the new Constitution," Sri Lanka's Science and Technology Minister Tissa Vitarana said told reporters after the meeting.

"Devolution of power can play an important role and could be the cornerstone in any strategy leading to resolving the ethnic conflict in our country," he added.

There were elected urban and municipal councils in Sri Lanka but it was generally felt that they were not serving the purpose. "Our aim is to provide economic and social benefits to the people at the village level," Mr. Vitarana said. "The Government is trying to seek a consensus on the issue of devolution of power to the people."

The delegation will visit Karnataka and Kerala to study the situation on the ground.

According to Mr. Aiyar the request for such an interaction had been made by the Sri Lankan President last month. "It is a historic event and we are honoured to have this All Party Expert Committee on Devolution of Power here but how they implement it in their country within their Constitutional framework is totally up to them. We are not advocating anything and we have no role to play in its implementation," he added.

This follows an agreement between the Sri Lankan Freedom Party and the United National Party to work together towards resolving the conflict in the country. The agreement was made a few days ago.

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