Development to Whom in Sri Lanka: A case study

Abstract

Post developmental construction policies in Sri Lanka are trying to reach two ends. One is to fulfill the citizens' needs and the other is to attract foreign direct investments (FDI). To address the citizens' needs, state adapts the neo-liberal welfare policies. To draw inward the- FDIs, state provides the duty concessions and developed infrastructures. Thereby in case of achieving above dual tasks, mega and micro developmental projects are implemented by GOSL in rural and urban areas. Establishing the new free trade zones and rearranging the old zones, constructing highways, conference halls, botanical gardens, cinema villages, Leisure parks and shopping moles symbolically implement the state role as a capitalist facilitator but government often emphasized these constructions as a need of citizens. In this context, the research problem of current study is that, in spite of including the human subject into developmental policies why does government exclude ordinary citizens from development policies? Two research questions are discussed here. One is as to how the government alienates the ordinary citizens from development policies? Second is as to how development policies address the citizens' grievances? The research is done by collecting data applying the methods of unstructured interviews and focus group discussions with 50 respondents who are already victims of Kandy-Colombo highway alternative road construction in the central province, Kandy District, Gatambe GN division. The descriptive methodology is used to analyze data. One of the key finding is that citizens do not integrate into parachuted development policies. As a result, the development polices failed to corporate in fulfilling the inhabitants' needs. Direct and indirect, long and short term benefits do not reach to these citizens. New political culture emerged and it is clinetalistic politics and promoted popular base political policies. Clientalistic political culture endorses the individual political agenda and political and social unity among citizens was demised as a result of clientalistic politics.