Abstract:
A society is established because of human needs and activities. The concept of "welfare" has a special place in society. Welfare helps to promote the individual's physical and spiritual development and maintains social well-being and interpersonal harmony. According to the liberal view on welfare, "the state is a social welfare organization." According to that, the state is created to fulfill the welfare purpose. It is known that the rulers of the Ancient and the present have paid more attention to social welfare. This is evident from studying the regimes of kingdoms such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaru. This study examines the public policies implemented for social welfare in Ancient times. The problem of the study focuses on how the form of public policies is implemented for social welfare. A historical source study is used as the study methodology, and data exploration is further done by obtaining subject qualitative opinions. Anuradhapura was the founding kingdom of the Sinhalese Kingdoms. The rulers there have also worked with outstanding commitment to social welfare. The construction of tanks, construction of roads, construction of hospitals, and construction of canals was prominent among them. Not only that, Rajarata rulers mainly paid attention to the security of the country and improving the well-being of the people. They enrich the medical facilities, educational facilities, and security facilities of the kingdom. Further, Rajarata rulers maintained different religious festivals. Those festivals help to build harmony among people in society. Compared to the Anuradhapura rulers, Polonnaru rulers also focused on social welfare by studying the governing laws of that era. The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the welfare concept of the Rajarata civilization was implemented optimally.
