Sunday Times 2
Renowned public servant and dedicated servant of Buddha Sasana
View(s):K H J Wijayadasa
Desamanya K H J Wijayadsa, a great son of mother Lanka passed away after rendering a fruitful service to the country and the people. His unique service in the Ceylon Civil Service started from Radio Ceylon, and continued as Government Agent Polonnaruwa, Kegalle and Secretary of several ministries and ultimately reached the peak of his career by becoming Secretary to the Prime minister and Secretary to two Presidents R Premadasa and D B Wijetunga. He was also the Chairman of several government corporations. He achieved remarkable fame as an honest, efficient and insightful public servant.
My association with Mr. Wijayadasa goes back to 1977, when he was Chairman of the Land Reform Commission and I was an internal auditor of that institution. He appreciated impartial and factual audit reports and called them bold reports. He directed certain reports to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation. Some of those cases ended up in Courts with the help of the Attorney General. He trusted on Audit to streamline his administration free from vulnerabilities of irregularities and corruption. He did not bend before politicians and did not allow any unfair things to happen. Ironically former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was also working as a young Director of the Land Reform Commission under this iconic civil servant during that period.
Wherever he worked, he pushed for broad reforms. When he was Director of Radio Ceylon he selected some prominent artistes purely on their qualifications and merits and later they became legends in their field. He was the first Chairman of the Central Environment Authority and they are still implementing his far-reaching policies.
He could rise to any difficult occasion with his sharp mind. Best example was the incident of the tragic death of President Premadasa. As Secretary to the President he faced a sudden and tense situation which was unbelievably catastrophic, but he mitigated the situation by quickly enacting sensible adjustment policies. Government machinery was back on the track with his shrewd policies.
The late Atamasthanadipathy Ven Pallegama Sirinivasa Nayake Thera was fortunate to get his service as the first Chairman of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Ranveta Fund in 2001. Later this Fund was incorporated in an act of Parliament in 2006 as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Development Fund. Atamasthanadipathy Thero was the patron of the fund with 20 prominent Buddhists appointed as members of the fund by the Prime Minister according to the provision of the act. Mr Wijayadasa’s main task as the Chairman was to construct the second Ranveta around the sacred Bodhi tree.
Mr Wijayadasa with his long experience of service could appoint a task force for all his work with prominent persons of several fields. Being the former Chairman of the State Engineering Corporation, he could get the help of the SEC for the construction of the Ranveta. After completing the second Ranveta within one year other major works he was entrusted with were the construction of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Prakaraya, construction of a large “Sannipatha Salawa” which could house nearly 10,000 devotees and relocating “Sathsathi Mandira” in new buildings. His task force included the late Eng Gamunu Silva, Eng Rohana de Silva, Prof P B Mandawela, late granite manufacturer H C L Wickrmasinghe, Botanist Bhatiya Sumithraarachchi and many others. Also associated from the beginning were late Nissanka Wijewardena, Themiya Hurulle and Deshabandu Tilak de Soyza. He always sought advice from former Atmasthanadipathy the late Ven Pallegama Sirinivasa Nayake Thera, present Atamasthanadipathy Ven Pallegam Hemarathana Nayake Thera and Lankaramadipathy Relpanawe Dhammajothi Thera on preservation and construction of religious sites. They had a high regard of Mr Wijayadasa as the pioneer of beautifying the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi premises. He received assistance and donations from the People’s Bank, Bank of Ceylon, public institutions, philanthropists as well as from general public for preservation and construction of religious sites.
In his long career his commitment to service was inspired by his amiable wife Nimalka Wijayadasa.
Mr Wijayadasa was not only an eminent civil servant; he was indeed a great human being as reflected by his generous support and attention to those he associated with. May his Sansara journey be a brief one and may he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana.
Sarath Wijesinghe
Administrative Secretary Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Development Fund