News
Proper human and financial resources management
View(s):We cling to whatever comes our way, whatever we could grab forcefully and whatever we get by hook or by crook.
This is dangerous. We are slowly coming to know the shady dealings of those who occupied high seats in the previous government. Because of the misdeeds of one or two institutions the country had lost millions. Humans have to work extra and even at night. Animals, however, need not do that. They sleep when they want to. Animals are not acquisitive, so nature has provided them with an adequate life span. Since humans do not have adequate rest they get greedy and angry, lose patience and fall sick.
By the Ven. Galaboda Gnanissara Thera (Podi Hamuduruwo Gangaramaya)
Though the clergy try their best to put people on the correct path, they go astray and sometimes to ruin. Our country once had discipline and great human qualities. But they are no more. We are on the path to ruin. Those in government, the learned, the illiterate, everyone in the country must find a solution to put the country on the correct path. A great responsibility rests on the clergy to achieve this.
There is a great enthusiasm now both in the public and private sectors for human resource management. But we are not sure whether the human resources are properly allocated. We see those who are committed working while others ‘pass the buck!’ Because of this the public and private sectors are in turmoil. For the country to develop, there should be discipline.
These days there is talk about the introduction of the death penalty. But big crimes do not occur suddenly. They start with something small. If we can detect and correct the smaller crimes in time ,we can avoid the greater evil later and put the country forward.
Public servants in education, health and transport sectors get on to the streets clamouring for higher pay and other demands. Whatever the problems they have, they must do their duty and pay their dues to the public. They should be trained to do that. Without this the country cannot be taken out of the mire. We will not be able to survive with a huge foreign debt, and we will not be able to continue living in harmony.
We come to know through the media of certain crimes committed by persons in robes. As soon as a crime is committed it is immediately publicised. I feel such publicity should not be given until we properly know whether the person is a Buddhist or a non Buddhist or even a genuine cleric for that matter. Otherwise people lose faith in our Buddhist clergy. It is important that rules and regulations be enacted to correct this. Regulations must be enacted to confiscate the wealth of those who deprive the state of revenue. Until such time we will not be able to control the opportunists. Today we only hear of the crimes committed and not about the punishment meted out. Some criminals know in advance the punishment that is due to them. So they commit the crime with no remorse. We will have to tighten the punishments meted out.
We are still discussing about what to do with the fallow lands. Reports are being made about these. Though the government is discussing this issue it is not thinking as to why these lands remain uncultivated. The main reason is the lack of labour. A casual labourer charges Rs. 1200 to 1500 a day. In addition he has to be given food and travelling expenses. Even if a labourer comes he will work only a couple of hours a day. This is a sad state of affairs. First, we must examine why the lands are not being cultivated and provide solutions. We have enough cases in history where the private lands were taken over by the state and ultimately the lands went into ruin. Later, companies took control of these. Some of them cut and sold the trees in the lands and the lands became useless. If the government is to get involved in this land problem it should divide these lands among the most deserving landless people and get them cultivated. Otherwise with everything that the government has to manage, managing lands will be a failure. In the case of lands leased out but not cultivated by the outsiders, they should be re-distributed. Some sort of compensation should also be given to the lessee. We should find out as to why such lands were not cultivated by the lessee.
When President Premadasa took over the country he said there was only a little money in the treasury. He got flour from the USA and sold it and started the development of the country. The Gangaramaya got involved and Janasaviya was started. Again the Gangaramaya took the initiative and GST was introduced. Many countries are being developed just on GST. There was a talk that recently that some officials in the Inland Revenue had played out millions of GST money. It was said that they were punished and their wealth confiscated.
Have we finished the investigations on these now? If what is given to the state is robbed, and if we have to bribe someone to get some work from the government done, and the work is delayed, such persons must be punished like we punish big criminals, and their wealth confiscated. We have to punish those who destroy the country this way like we treat criminals who commit murder, on the spur of the moment. It is one government officer who supervises every one hundred bottles of alcohol released to the market by the producers. If a bribe is offered to some of these officers the numbers change. The government gets less by way of tax. These are now known to the Government. So it must act accordingly.
We have members of the security forces who were fully deployed during the war. If the present state officers are not doing their work, at least the officers of the armed services should be asked to do so. We cannot always get loans from other countries to develop ours. I am waiting till the Government comes up with a scheme to put an end to the misuse of funds by a few who retard the development of the country. A poor man is put behind bars for robbing Rs. 500. The government servant who takes bribes should also undergo similar punishment.
During the time of Sirima Bandaranaike, People’s Committees were set up. Since unqualified persons were appointed to these, they did not serve the purpose. This was done on the advice of Communist and LSSP politicians but it was a failure. But this system worked successfully in Communist countries. People’s Committees and Nationalised ventures were failures in Sri Lanka. Though N.M. Perera was an LSSPer it is he who saved us from long term loans. Though people had to suffer somewhat temporarily, he is the one who saved us from debt. Because of this JR was able to get loans from abroad easily. But getting loans is not the ideal thing.
The main allegation against the Mahinda Rajapaksa government is that it raised loans at very high rates from abroad. People are waiting to see what the present government would do. It is good if the present government collects the taxes properly and takes action against those who do not pay taxes and establish certain norms in sectors such as education and health.