Politicians' idle dreams and the work ethic

There is once again a rash of work stoppages and public protests and the state would do well not to misguide itself into believing that these signs of unrest would just fade away. Apparently, the ongoing 'trade union' action by university teachers has been a forerunner of sorts to a multiplicity of protests over salaries and wages, but one would be foolish to dismiss this wave of unrest as consisting of merely disruptive acts aimed at embarrassing the government.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's current visits to the provinces are most timely and he knows for a fact that all is not well and that there is more than meets the eye. If this were not so, the President would not have stressed that politicians should carefully organize their 'development' work in consultation with the authorities, rather than squander state funds on ill-planned projects. He would not also emphasize that work, purportedly development-oriented, should benefit the people and that this is the standard of value of any programmes undertaken by the representatives of the people.

These observations by the President, we hope, would prove to be eye-openers for all concerned; very specially the so-called representatives of the people. As we see it, the challenge before the state is to ensure that wealth flows-down to the people very steadily. It is not clear whether this is happening to the desired degree and at the right pace. These all-important sides to development must be constantly probed by the state.

Government politicians wax lyrical about our growth rate and the connected matter of our GNP per capita, both of which are comparatively impressive, but not a murmur do they make about economic equity.

True, local economic growth is high by the standards of developing countries, but to what degree is such growth evenly distributed? How equitably does our population receive the stated per capita income?

These are questions which usually go unanswered but the time is ripe to take them on because economic grievances are growing in some sections and not all such grouses could be said to be politically-motivated. In other words, the current development effort must be taken to its logical conclusion, in that the people need to be truly empowered.

The state should continue to work out effective wealth redistribution strategies and we hope development approaches, such as the Divi Neguma programme, would yield the required dividends.

Allied to this process, there needs to be hard, inexhaustible diligence and hard work on the part of the people's representatives to take development to the people. The work ethic, in other words, is very much in demand and the state needs to ensure that government politicians truly put their shoulders to the wheel of national development.

The impression we get is that these and many more issues are yet to be discussed and debated in local society with any seriousness and vigour.

While one could be glad that infrastructure development is proceeding apace, we hope that more thought will be given to the question of redistributive justice. If economic grievances among the people are to be contained, the issue of economic justice would need to be addressed and resolved.

Meanwhile, the people's representatives should ensure that no wasteful dreams and schemes of theirs would be hatched at the expense of the public.

The dream of the people of this country, as regards their representatives, is to see the latter selflessly working towards the common good. Rather than see some of them riding rough shod over the people, puffed-up with the arrogance of power, they would prefer to see these representatives working in a spirit of humility towards the well being of the people.

The people would also prefer to see their representatives leading simple lives, with no inclination to show off the symbols of power, such as, palatial houses and vehicles of monstrous proportions, along with overbearing retinue, which roar past the public, with no care for life or limb.