A U N study in contrast

Pat for Lanka's social development

By Feizal Samath

Wealthy Saudi Arabia's per capita income is three times that of Sri Lanka but we rank much higher in the social development sphere, putting a lot of money into health, education and social welfare.

Sri Lanka's social development structures have been hailed as exemplary models in the South Asian region and the rest of the world. In1990, this Saudi Arabia versus Sri Lanka case was aptly illustrated in a United Nations report that produced a human development study of the world, for the first time.

Sri Lanka was also "streets" ahead in its social programming before and immediately after independence from colonial rule in 1948 in comparison to other Asian countries, like Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea.

But much water has flowed under the bridge since then, and Sri Lanka's progress in the social sector has been slower than in other parts of Asia. Worst the island's economy has not kept pace with social development trends while the rest of Asia has surged ahead - the East Asian crisis notwithstanding - both in social and economic development.

"The value of the human development index (HDI) ranks Sri Lanka 91 among 175 countries. This is nine places above its ranking in terms of real per capita incomes, reflecting its higher social development relative to income," says the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) national human development report for 1998, released earlier this month.

It was the first time the UNDP was presenting a country-specific report on human development for Sri Lanka. From 1990 onwards, UNDP's global human development reports have ranked countries in terms of the HDI, based on the commitment to social welfare measures. Since 1990, several other countries have launched country-specific reports.

The report, prepared for UNDP by a group of independent scholars, said that Sri Lanka had succeeded in delivering adequate health care and social services to enable its people to lead long and healthy lives. Adult life expectancy in the country at 72 years was considerably above the world average of 63 years and just below the average of 74 in industrial countries.

The literacy rate of 90 percent, it said, is substantially above the world average of 77 percent and not far below the level of 99 percent for industrial countries

While noting that social development is above the world average particularly in the field of health and education, due to strong state investment in these sectors over the past 50 years, the country has not achieved the same levels in its economic wellbeing, it noted.

The UNDP report said that the purchasing power adjusted GDP per capita for Sri Lanka was above the average for developing countries, but was well below the world average and only a small fraction of the "mean level for industrial countries."

Our failure to generate higher levels of growth and income, the report found, was because of systematic and deliberate pursuit of anti-market policies during certain periods in the past, which stifled economic incentives and weakened market opportunities.

"Fast growing countries like South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore - way behind Sri Lanka's social infrastructure in the 1930s - not only exceeded Sri Lanka in income levels, but also left the country far behind in social improvements," the report said.

It was also supportive of a strategy to promote economic growth in industrial and service sector activities to expand demand for educated labour, since the agriculture sector had failed to provide employment opportunities for an educated labour force - a recommendation backed by eminent economist Dr Gamani Corea, who spoke at the report's launch recently.

But agriculture economists are bound to reject this proposal, saying it was not possible to industrialise some of or all the agricultural lands. There is also the free market South Asian region concept which local industries fear will seriously affect local firms when much cheaper goods - particularly from India - are allowed to freely flow into Sri Lanka.

Farmers are the backbone of the Sri Lankan economy but due to neglect and haphazard planning by authorities, they have suffered under successive regimes. Owing to poor returns, most of the sons and daughters of farmers are moving out of the community into jobs in the armed forces, garment factories and the Middle East.

Sri Lanka's known progress in low infant mortality rates, high literacy and education levels among mothers and widespread maternal care is illustrated in the report which also details out varying degrees of human development in districts across the country's 18 million people.

'The district-wise pattern of HDI values shows the existence of considerable regional disparities in human development levels within Sri Lanka," it said.

While Colombo, the capital, was the wealthiest district in 1990 with a GDP per capita of Rs. 12,610, the situation had changed by 1994 and Gampaha with a high concentration of industries - topped this list with a GDP per capita of Rs 14,880 rupees.

Discussing the education sector, the report said there were 4.3 million students and 195,000 teachers in 10,800 schools in the country.

However, the proportion of students passing the main secondary examination, the GCE (OL), was only 26 percent in 1996, while those passing the higher GCE (AL) examination was also low at 48 percent, the report said, noting that it may be due to low-paid and poorly-motivated teachers, and lack of proper educational facilities.

University education in Sri Lanka is free but very competitive due to the limited availability of such institutions, the report said recommending that the state should encourage private universities and private schools to increase the intake and raise education levels - a recommendation, which drew some criticism from some sectors.

The UNDP report said that the level of gender development in Sri Lanka was moderate, and women have only attained 69 percent of the level of human development achieved by men. But this was higher than the world average of 64 percent and 56 percent for all developing countries.

Female literacy rates and schooling enrolment rates in Sri Lanka were also substantially higher than developing country and world averages, it noted.

On Sri Lanka's ethnic unrest that is largely confined to the north and east of the country, the report said that economic and social progress has suffered in these areas and access to adequate data for this study was a problem.

It stressed the need for a political solution to the conflict, which has killed up to 75,000 people since 1983, and underscored the importance of public opinion exerting pressure on Tamil rebels to stop fighting and talk peace with the government.A panel discussion, immediately following the presentation of the report at the Hotel Oberoi, raised some interesting issues. In the panel were Dr Reggie Perera, additional secretary to the Ministry of Health, Ms Mallika Karunaratne, director of the Finance Ministry's National Planning department, Professor S. Tilakaratne, chairman of the University Grants Commission and a UNDP specialist on humanitarian issues.

"According to this report, it looks like the women are going to lead a lonely life," said Dr Perera in a hilarious opening to his presentation. He quoted the report as saying that women, with a life expectancy of 74.6 years, would live longer than the men, with a life expectancy of 70 years.

On a more serious note, he said that the health services have been maintained over the years because of an excellent army of health workers and good administrators, who "unfortunately are not able to indulge in private sector like their doctor colleagues."

He said that many of the issues raised in the report with regard to improvements in the health services had been dealt with by a presidential task force on health reforms and were being put into action.

Dr Perera, referring to complaints of unregulated private sector health facilities, noted that the government had no intention of regulating private hospitals but a new Private Medical Institutions Act was being drafted in which a representative council will set out guidelines for private hospitals.

Dr Tilakaratne said he had reservations about the recommendation on the creation of more private schools and universities to improve services. "The private sector is profit-motivated and any such educational institution will be driven by this and not quality," he noted.

"Look at the private tutories. They are private institutions.

But are they being run properly or do they lack in standards?" he asked.

He also said it was not correct to state that private universities were banned in Sri Lanka, as suggested in the report. "It is allowed under a set of rules and guidelines," he added.

The UNDP's first report on Sri Lanka's social development was however praised as a commendable effort and panelists suggested that the next report in 1999 should take up issues in much more detail and analysis.

Galileo makes travel simple and comfy

Galileo International launched its services in Sri Lanka recently. This Computer Reservation System (CRS) helps travellers simplify their travel arrangements.

"Today 1/3 rd of the world's passengers book via Galileo," David A. Near, Sr. Vice President, Subscriber Marketing, Galileo International," told The Sunday Times Business.

This is an intensely competitive business in every market. If it isn't backed up by a knowledgeable and capable service provider, it will not succeed. "We don't sell software, we sell a service," stressed Mr. Near.

Six members from the AirLanka Reservations are being sent to Dubai for training. They will then be instrumental in getting this new service into place, explained Charles de Silva, Director, Middle East and African Region, Galileo International.

A CRS is an electronic marketplace. The suppliers are airlines, hotels, tour operators, etc. And it is absolutely, aggressively, crazy competition, said Mr. Near. Amadeus and Galileo are two of the very well known CRSs. In Europe probably Amadeus has a lead, while Galileo is stronger in the United States, he said.

Other national carriers too subscribe to Galileo, and carry out a distribution service. In the United Kingdom, it is British Airways while in Italy it is Alitalia. AirLanka also participates in other CRSs.

Ninety-eight countries already use Galileo and Galileo Sri Lanka is the 14th in the Asia-Pacific region. "Nowhere in the world are things changing faster than in Asia," said Mr. Near. With the present system, in place in Sri Lanka, each time a customer calls to buy a service, that is the only service one aims to sell. Yet with a CRS in place, a passenger who calls for an air ticket will naturally be offered a selection including hotels, car rental services etc. And even one of those customers if untapped, is money left on the table, Mr. Near said

As there are negotiated rates with the travel agencies the passenger could even get a better rate. "It's a good tool for big business and leisure travelling," said Ms. Naz Nizari, General Manager, Galileo Emirates.

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