The Sunday Times Economic Analysis

The Sunday Times Economic Analysis By the Economist

Capitalising social capital
An interesting initiative of the President was to get staff in government departments and institutions to clean up their places of work through voluntary participation. This may have had three useful results. First, the immediate improvement of the work environment, second, the inculcation of a sense of participatory involvement in their work place and third, a sense of dignity in the kind of work that is considered menial.

There is however a larger issue involved. The use of human resources on a voluntary basis for the upliftment of society is well recognised. This is recognised in economics and termed social capital. Social capital may be defined as potential human resources that could be productively used for generating additional goods and services or for indulging in environmentally and socially beneficial activities that have long range gains, but are not necessarily profitable under a market system.

The Japanese for instance use these in the cultivation of crops organically. Their systems of community participation, lower costs of production, cut marketing margins and confer benefits to producer and consumer alike. Social capital could be used effectively for economic and social development, especially in capital scarce countries like ours. The use of such voluntary low cost resources could contribute significantly to economic development. Community actions have been an important component of social and economic policies of ancient Sri Lanka.

The construction and maintenance of the tank irrigation system, as well as the voluntary organisation of self help groups for paddy cultivation, are among the examples of practices in the past.Vestiges of these practices are still prevalent in some villages in rural Lanka. The Sarvodaya movement is based on these principles and much has been achieved by Sarvodaya to uplift the economic and social conditions of villages through self-help and Shramadhana. There are however several weaknesses that can creep into the current fad of using social capital in the form of Shramadhana.

It could be just a new gimmick; a one shot effort soon to be forgotten. One wonders how many of the Shramadhana exercises were for the benefit of television cameras and mere exercises to boost the image of the new government as a people's regime. To what extent was the campaign ordered by the top rather than a really voluntary one? Was the work really useful? In fact the television pictures suggested that offices were getting rid of all the paper on desks in an unsystematic manner. Nevertheless it is important that our economic and social development strategy utilises social capital effectively.

First and foremost such use should be voluntary and based on the realisation of people that it is for the social good. There may be a need for awareness and education programmes to inculcate these solid social and cultural values.Shramadhana must be used in an organised and systematic manner and in terms of national and social priorities, not wasted in unproductive activities. A national programme as well as regional activities for such action must be identified. It is also important that communities themselves identify priorities and actions that they like to participate in. Shramahana should not play the role of substituting for duties that should be performed by persons employed and paid for should be doing.

For instance the cleaning of offices that we witnessed on television is an example of neglect of duties that had to be compensated for. This is most unsatisfactory, as the country has paid for these services that remained undone.

There are many areas of national life that could benefit through community actions. These include help to schools and old age institutions. In a country where the age of retirement at 60 years provides 5 to 10 years of active life, the active elderly could be mobilised into a social army to contribute their mite to various aspects of life, such as school administration and teaching, especially the teaching of English.

They could help in the running of old age homes and caring for the elderly, as is the practice in the US. They could be used to maintain infrastructure in good condition. There are many ways in which the latent productive capacities of the community could be utilised. But let's not make Shramadhana a political gimmick.

Back to Columns