ICSS 2016
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Item Efficacy of Constitutional Reform on Strengthening Good Governance Practice: A Case Study on 19th Amendment to the Constitution on Accountable Governance in Sri Lanka(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Abeysinghe, C.During the recent past, issues related to the governance have been gaining much attention among the academics as well as policy makers. The failure of achieving anticipated development objectives and the burden of the newly emerging socio-economic needs have paved the way for governance reforms. Emergence of good governance reforms, particularly in developing word, became the bandwagon of the governance policy discourses in the end of the 1990s and first decades of the millennium. with thirty year protracted civil war in Sri Lanka seeks more accountable, corruption and waste free government after the conclusion of the war. This argument raised by the opposition alliance acknowledged the constituencies by changing the ruling regime. Newly appointed government brought the constitutional amendment into the constitution to establish the promised good governance atmosphere in Sri Lanka in 2015. This paper explore the efficacy of the constitutional reform introduced under the 19th amendment to the constitution on enhance the accountability of the governance in Sri Lanka. This is a case study and qualitative secondary data based research in nature. This study reveal that, the legal and institutional reforms introduced under the 19th amendment to the constitution for strengthening accountability of the democratic government have paved the way for the institutional and procedural changes. The changes brought into the immunity of the president under the article 35 of the constitution and the establishment of Constitutional Commission, the Audit Service Commission, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, The National Procurement Commission under the article 41 (B) can be shown for instance. However, whatever the legal, procedural and intuitional changes introduced, it is evident that most of them are related to strengthening accountability in the administration spheres. Therefore, this study brings policy suggestion that, in order to enhance the accountability of the democratic governance, its requires, the administrative accountability and the consolidation of the political accountability. For this government reforms must include election reforms which bring the check and balance between political and permeant executives and the people representatives and the constituencies simultaneously. Moreover, in order to sustain the accountability of the governance, such reform must be fit to prevailed political culture in Sri Lanka.Item Community Participation for Disaster Risk Reduction(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Hemathilaka, J.Floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in Sri Lanka in May 2016 have left 71 people dead, 127 missing, and over 319,000 displaced from homes while over a 427,000 people are affected by the adverse weather. This is the latest experience in Sri Lanka where the frequency and the intensity of natural disaster has shown a drastic increase over the last decade. With the impacts of climate change and destruction of natural eco systems it is expected that natural disasters going to be a frequent phenomenon. If Sri Lanka fails to adapt to this situation quickly the damage for the security of the people’s lives and overall progress of the country will be irreversible. Our current approach in preventing and responding to disasters is largely based on top-down, command and control approach with very little space for affected communities in decision making and implementation. As shown by the previous experiences this has led to more unrest among communities hence worsening the situation. Similarly, with the increasing challenges a centralized single authority will no longer in a position to respond to all the disasters in an inclusive, effective and sustainable manner. As seen in many occasions, local governance structures have played a significant role in disaster situations. But there are some serious questions we have to find answers. Do these local governance structures have the capacities, resources or space in playing a major role in disaster prevention and responding? Do the affected people, especially most vulnerable groups including women, ethnic minorities and disable, have the space in participating decision making and implementing processes? Are we ready to accept the affected communities as dignified citizens who have a right to have proper support rather than being mere recipients. Therefore, this paper has intended to shear the outcome of stake holder consultation to find solutions to those questions and build a system which based on effective participatory governance structure we will be better prepared in responding to the unavoidable natural disasters in future.Item Gender Based Violence in Post War Situation(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Jayathilake, H.D.Y.D.; Edirisinghe, E.A.D.A.; Subramanian, K.The current study was conducted in the districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivue’ with the objective of comprehending the current situation relating to Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the aforementioned districts. Data was collected using mini and large focus group discussions, interviews, key informant discussions and case studies that were conducted with female and male respondents (121) from Karachchi, Kandawalai and Poonakary in the district of Killinochchi and from Puthukudiydruppu, Ottusudan and Manthai East in the Mullaitivu district. A total of 17 respondents were taken as case studies for this research. The results revealed that there is an increase in the number of women who have been subjected to various forms of physical and verbal abuse some to the extent where these abusive acts have being identified as being acts of grave abuse. Furthermore, the increases of teenage mothers as well as those involved in extra marital relationships provide a situation that requires immediate attention.Item Demographic Change and Ageing of Population in Sri Lanka(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Menike, H.R.A.Like many developed countries in the world, Sri Lanka has successfully attempted to decrease both the birth rate and death rate. With the decrease of fertility rate, the annual birth rate was gradually reduced. The mortality rate dropped resulting in the increase of the life expectancy of people year by year. The ageing of the population refers most commonly to an increase in the proportion of the elderly in the population. It is primarily a result of declines in fertility and mortality. I.e. population ageing is the inevitable result of rising life expectancy and declining fertility. Thus the main objective of this paper is to examine the impact of these demographic changes on indicators in the ageing of population in Sri Lanka. The study was mainly based on secondary data and for the data analysis, descriptive statistical techniques were adopted. The study reveals that, these demographic changes have mainly influenced on three indicators in the ageing of population. They are the proportion of elderly, the index of ageing and the elderly dependency ratio. These indicators from 1946 and beyond are expected to rise rapidly. Also, the prominent feature revealed by the study is, the index of ageing rises speedily above the other indices. The index of ageing were only 14 elderly persons for every 100 children in 1963, but in 1991 it had increased to 26, and it is projected to be as high as 127 in the year 2031. These trends obviously indicate a change of the population pyramid of Sri Lanka in the future.Item Progress in Controlling Efforts of Inland Water Pollution in Sri Lanka: The Case of Lower Kelani River Basin in Sri Lanka(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Amarasinghe, A.G.Water pollution can be defined as the process or phenomenon of contamination of natural water bodies by chemical, physical, radioactive or pathogenic microbial substances. Polluted water contains harmful chemicals or substance which are not suitable for human consumption such as drinking, washing purposes or bathing and agricultural activities. Paying due attention to this trend, the government of Sri Lanka has introduced several policies and programs to control the process of water pollution. All these policies and programs have been implemented in the Lower Kelani River Basin. Lower Kelani River basin is the geographical area where the highest population and industrial density can be seen. And also, it is revealed that the water pollution level is high in this river basin. The objective of this paper is to discuss the characteristics and trends of the water pollution process and to identify the initiatives that have been taken to control the water pollution. Field survey and reviewing literature were the main data collecting method. Filling a set questionnaire, interviews and observation were the method applied to collect primary data from the field. Basic statistics, diagrams and maps were used to analyze data and present the result.Item The role of social worker in Elderly care(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Sirikumara, H.K.S.; Keerthi, J.K.P.U.Elderly care is becoming a complex problem in modern society. Due to growing population of the elders, it is difficult to take care of them by their own children. Therefore in this context, the government has to take responsibility for the well being of them. The objective of this study was to analyze the role of social workers in elderly care selecting two elderly care institutions in Kegalle and Galla districts. I applied survey method and forwarded questionnaire and held interviews with focus group discussions. In addition, I asked some questions from social workers and their input for this study was very valuable. In fact, as social workers, they had to look after their needs and necessities of the elders, to change the attitude of the elders and to change their mind set. Social workers did their role in relation to above elder care institutions. In this context the social workers did their duty as follows, i.e. The responsibility of the social worker is how to protect the elders within the community and family,to guide and train the persons who are protecting the elders,to find out how to work with elders and how to keep an interpersonal relationship with elders. The role of the social worker is to give advice how to spend a successful life by the elders. The duty of the social worker is to inform to the society about the value of the elders. It is necessary to provide employment opportunity for the elders. Despite their valuable services on behalf of the elders, I believed that the government should provide some facilities to encourage their activities.Item Usage of Workers’ Remittance by the Households of Origin in Sri Lanka(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Bandara, S.Migration is not a new phenomenon and it is the oldest human action against poverty (Galbraith, 1979). Nowadays the most direct impact of migration is remittances. For many rural households in developing economies, remittances are a fundamental element of livelihood strategies (De la Briere, Sadoulet, De Janvry, & Lambert, 2002). Thereby, the role of remittances has been a decisive element in explaining household strategies regarding migration. Most studies on internal and international migration and remittances have concluded that remittances improve consumption rather than investment (Zosa & Orbeta Jr, 2009).The effects of rural-to-urban migration on the development of rural communities (migrant-sending areas) can be examined through the usage of remittances by the households of origin. The present study examines the determinants of the usage of remittances using probit regression. I disaggregated the remittance data according to the purpose of the remittances, such as household daily expenditure, education of household members, spending on farming activities and spending on durables and housing. This paper investigated the process of rural-to-urban migration, remittances and their impact on rural farm communities/sending communities using survey data gathered by the author from January to April 2011 in Gampaha District in Sri Lanka. The probit analysis results reveal that making annual remittances decreases significantly as migrants’ stay in the city becomes longer. At the beginning of the migration process, more remittances will be received and over time, as they shift to other channels of income, the remittances they receive decline. Migrants tend to remit for the purpose of education if there are students in the household of origin. This confirms that rural-to-urban migration and remittances are not only for consumptive purposes but also for investment purposes. None of the migrants remitted monthly for the purpose of buying durables or building houses as this may require large sums of money. However, they do remit for the purposes of buying those things annually when they get bonuses or seettu. Moreover, rural-to-urban migration contributes significantly to asset accumulation in the communities of origin. Twenty-five per cent of the migrants have built new houses in their place of origin.Item A study of the contribution of Rural Tourism as a development strategy to develop the household economy of rural areas in Sri Lanka(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Perera, A.The key objective of this paper is to analyze the contribution of rural tourism as a preliminary instrument of development of the household economy of rural areas in Sri Lanka. Potentials of Rural Tourism are very high as a household economic development strategy compared to other tourism related development strategies. As an island with rich natural resources and human capital, Sri Lanka has also been using Rural Tourism as an economic activity in rural areas like Meemure, Dambulla, Heeloya & Lakegala. However, using derived results the study has reviewed that the current contribution of those activities is not sufficient to eliminate various crucial economic matters of those households. The study used primary & secondary data which gathered by field trips, interviews with villagers & private tourist agents, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Department of Census & Statistics Sri Lanka & Ministry of Finance Sri Lanka to derive results using of Regressions & Correlation Co-efficient. Therefore the paper has discussed the importance of deriving a goal-oriented Rural Tourism frame work to accomplish the goal optimization of Rural Tourism activities as a household economic development strategy which has especially defined for Sri Lanka. Similarly the paper includes about other limitations which are existing at the moment regarding Rural Tourism activities such as matter of less attention of the government towards Rural Tourism as an economic activity, matter of intervention of multi-national organizations to organize Rural Tourism activities, difficulties of promoting Rural Tourism activities, influence of less developed infrastructure of rural sector on Rural Tourism and lack of a specific policy frame work for Rural Tourism in Sri Lanka with various methods to overcome these identified matters, which lead to improve the significance and the contribution of rural tourism activities as an economic development strategy to develop the household economy of rural areas in Sri Lanka.Item Seasonality Variation and Its Impact on Local Economy (With special reference to South coastal area, Sri Lanka)(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Madushani, H.D.P.; Gunarathne, M.In recent decades, tourism has become a significant global phenomena with its massive influence on society, politics, culture and above all the economy. Seasonality is one of the unique and idiosyncratic features of international tourism and in Sri Lanka too. In Sri Lanka seasonal variation is very high for 30 years of time when compared with other South Asian countries. Seasonality is a problem related to the productivity of use of capacity. The supply side behavior and the labor market in tourism are affected by seasonal variation in demand. The main objective of this research is to identify the economic impact of seasonality variation of tourism in South coastal area, Sri Lanka. Primary data was collected by carrying out semi structured interviews using questionnaire. Secondary data was collected from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development authority (SLTDA) and an airport survey since 1968. The analysis indicates that some specific economic variables have a relationship with the seasonal variation using Gini Coefficient, regression analysis and time series analysis. This paper indicates the proof about the influence of some economic variables such as GDP, changes in price index and employment on the seasonal variation of tourist arrivals. Better marketing strategies, decreasing prices are some of the remedies for seasonal variation. The presented paper would be useful not only to tourism companies tackling seasonality and the government but also to further researchers.Item A Contextual Framework to Guide the Introduction and Use of e-learning(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Suraweera, S.A.D.H.N.; Liew, C.L.; Cranefield, J.In Sri Lanka, under the government’s vision of higher education, Information Management (IM) education is seen as important for fostering the development of a high quality market-oriented and knowledge-based society. However, a number of barriers currently restrict access to IM education by Sri Lankan information workers: the provision of education is limited to face-to-face teaching at three institutions in the Colombo (capital city) area, and the country’s physical infrastructure makes it difficult for full-time workers to attend classes without missing substantial work time. This results in IM employer reluctance to support education. Hence there is a growing need to provide equity of access to IM education. In response to World Bank reports, the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Council (QAAC) of Sri Lanka aims to foster transformative change in IM education with the goal of increasing equality of access to IM education through the use of e-learning. This research was guided by two questions: (i) what are the contextual factors and (ii) how do these factors affect the introduction and use of e-learning in tertiary-level IM education in Sri Lanka? An interpretive case study research was conducted. Thirty semistructured interviews were conducted with information management education providers, existing e-learning providers and relevant stakeholders, and three focus group discussions were conducted with information workers and academics. Relevant documents were also analysed: (i) official government documents (ii) official documents from private sources and other internal records; and (iii) relevant internet resources. Fullan’s educational change theory and Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov’s cultural dimensions provided a basis for a conceptual model to guide the process of data collection and analysis in this study to gain an understanding of factors affecting the introduction and use of e-learning. A key outcome of this study is the development of a contextual framework to guide the introduction and use of e-learning in IM education in developing country context like Sri Lanka. Factors that are perceived to have an impact on the introduction and use of elearning were found at different levels. Macro-level factors included social and cultural factors, governmental factors, and technological factors. Meso-level factors included resistance to pedagogical change, lack of human and other resources, lack of collaboration/partnership among stakeholders and collective perception of e-learning acceptance. The findings of this study have implications for IM educators and practice in the forms of development of policies, implementation of e-learning, and prioritization and allocation of resources.