''ග්‍රාම සභා'' ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුකරණය, අත්හදා බැලීමක නිරීක්ෂණ, අත්දැකීම සහ නිගමන

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the success or failure of the reform process for rural governance in Sri Lanka based on the experience of an experiment conducted at the village level called 'Grama Sabha' in Sri Lanka. The Grama Niladhari Division is the smallest and lowest official territorial unit in Sri Lanka. The very name 'Grama Niladhari Domain' indicates that the basis of this unit is the Grama Niladhari. But at present the domain is covered by the duties of a large number of public officers. A special feature of rural governance in Sri Lanka is that although there is an official structure up to the domain level administratively, there was no similar political / democratic representative structure or definite representative until the local government elections in February 2018. Grama Sabha experiments were carried out before 2018, during the period 2010-2015. The 'Grama Sabha' program was launched as a pilot program by uniting, linking and incorporating all officials directly involved in the domain, community leaders, government officials, local political representatives, civil society organizations, voluntary organizations, community based organizations, religious institutions and religious leaders, educational institutions, influential people, law enforcement agencies, trading institutions and the business community, as well as the elite. The main objective of this paper is to review the conceptual framework, action plan, experience gained, observations and conclusions related to the 'Grama Sabha' project. I think this analysis, which is based on a qualitative method and participatory observation method, will be important in the future rural governance reform in Sri Lanka. I also hope that this research will contribute to the discussion that has arisen in Sri Lanka due to the Covid-19 epidemic, which emphasizes the need