Transforming talk into policies and action
A challenge before Sri Lankan society is to transform talk into action. In fact it appears that talks, lectures, symposia, workshops, seminars, conferences that abound in this country, have taken the place of meaningful actions to resolve the very problems and issues that they talk about. The subjects of these seminars and workshops are varied with a tendency to focus on the topics that are particularly fashionable at the time. In fact the themes selected are often dictated by donor agencies that fund these workshops.

There was a time when various agencies established offices in Colombo to research and broadcast their messages on the environment. The fashionable phrase then was sustainable development. International agencies, the World Bank included, joined in the chorus. Sustainable development is not so fashionable these days. Some of the agencies that operated here have left and funding in this area is not as forthcoming as before. There was a time when gender issues were the fashion and seminars on gender inequality were most popular. This interest has also tapered off.

The current fashion is poverty. Poverty reduction, poverty alleviation, making poverty history, reviving agriculture for poverty reduction, pro-poor growth are some of the catchy themes of these workshops.

They are mostly held in posh hotels either in Colombo or distant places like Dambulla, Kandy or beach resorts. Organisers say they are well attended when held in such hospitable places and when transport and per diems are paid. They also contend that some of the important policy makers could be trapped in the hotel if far away. High-level academics, policy makers and researchers have generally attended these seminars. There is a sort of preaching to the converted. They are friendly and cordial gatherings of like-minded persons.

There have been some important slight changes. Among them is a conscious attempt to bring in provincial policy makers and officials in the districts. At the same time there has been an attempt to use two or three languages with simultaneous translations. These are still initial attempts to move away from seminars held only in English and with those who are articulate in English only. Hopefully these attempts to get a broader participation would be more successful in the future. They may help change the mindset of the younger generation.

There are several objectives these workshops achieve. There are interactions among academics, researchers and policy makers. They are relaxation to the participants and help the hotel industry. No doubt they are a boost to research and improve presentation skills.

We are not saying that the quality of discussion and research are poor. Quite the contrary, as most of these seminars are rich in ideas. They are often excellent presentations and lively discussions ensue. Foreign observers and participants are amazed at the excellent papers that are presented and the rich quality of the discussions.

The recent fashion is the buzzword poverty. There are seminars on various dimensions of poverty. There are in depth analysis on poverty, meticulous analysis of poverty statistics, the causes of poverty, the relationship between agriculture and poverty, the differences between urban, rural and estate poverty and so many other variations of this theme. The issue is not that there is a poverty of thought, but the thoughts have little impact on poverty. The issue is to what extent do these expensive and costly seminars contribute to policy formulation. Our suspicion is that they are in a world of their own and contribute little or none to the policies on poverty alleviation. Policy formulation and implementation are another ball game. To use the famous phrase of John Maynard Keynes, they may contribute to the gradual encroachment of ideas, but hardly contribute to current policy formulation and the effective implementation of policy.

There are many reasons for these. Policy makers hardly listen to new ideas and are not sensitive to research findings. For instance research on the Samurdhi movement by the Institute of Policy Studies, Department of Census and Statistics and observations and analysis by the Central Bank clearly show that Samurdhi payments do not reach the poorest of the poor. The actual beneficiaries for a good part are not the intended needy sections of the population.

The minister in charge to her credit has quoted some of these figures, but of no avail as far as the scheme is concerned. Similarly agricultural research findings remain untapped. The rhetoric on agricultural development so often heard these days does little to use research findings to increase yields. The examples of research and discussions not having an impact on policy formulation are a plenty. We keep researching, talking, arranging seminars and symposia with very little impact on the country's policy implementation. This is one of the fundamental reasons for the lower efficiency and productivity of the economy.

It is fashionable to describe the contemporary world as being a knowledge based society. This has expression in much intellectual activity. Does it however reflect in actions and adoption of policies? It is not that there is a lack of knowledge on what should be done, but the inability to do what we know should be done is the problem and bottleneck to development.

That is why a Vice President of the World Bank said not so long ago: If I am to choose one advice and it is this: implementation, as if the life of the Nation Sri Lanka depends on it, because it does. Can we transform our ideas into action? Can we transform the rich discussions into policy decisions and then into effective implementation?

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