Empowering rural communities:

Home-made solutions vital - Sanasa Bank Chairman

by L. S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

We should have home-made solutions for our problems rather than depending on outsiders such as the World Bank, said Sanasa Development Bank Chairman, Dr. P. A. Kiriwandeniya.

The open economic policies introduced by the J. R. Jayawardene regime in 1970's alienated the rural sector especially the village-based small scale entrepreneurs. The cooperative Thrift and Credit Societies introduced to Sri Lanka in 1906 were reorganised in the form of Sanasa in 1978 to improve the lot of the rural community.

At present 160,000 village-based entrepreneurs out of 400,000 Sanasa members carry out their businesses successfully, Dr. Kiriwandeniya said.

The Sunday Observer interviewed Dr. Kiriwandeniya with special reference to his home-spun financial policies. Excerpts of the interview:

Q: A very few people in the country's financial sector practise home-made policies. You are one of them. Do you have solutions to problems faced by the country?

A: Had we followed the correct policies after the national independence, we would not have faced the current problems.

The political leaders, policy-makers and bureaucrats still followed pre-independent policies as a dependent nation with people expecting everything from abroad. Rice and other subsidiary food crops such as chilies, onions and other commodities are still being imported.

The World Bank assistance were sought to cushion budget deficities. Even after independence there was no sense of national pride or feeling among the rulers and the people. The situation underwent a radical change in the late 1970s when the open market policies were introduced. There should have been plans to identify the skills, talents and capabilities of the people to have them harness for the development of the country.

Gampaha and Kalutara districts were far more advanced than other districts since all major industries were set up there. The gap between the haves and have-not has widened.

Moneragala - Hambantota and even Kandy districts remained in the backyard due to the shortsighted policies implemented upto 1994.

Q: Now that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has cleaned the Augean stable and established peace, it is the right time to implement your policies. Your comments?

A: Since the country is totally free from terrorism - we should begin rebuilding the shattered social fabric. We have to live and work together irrespective of religious, cultural and ethnic differences.

Now is time for us to unite if we are to prosper. Even before the defeat of terrorism we had begun pooling our economic and knowledge to create a new milieu for communities to live in.

The lack of a solid religious foundation which witnessed a depreciation of national values such as culture and heritage was one of the biggest challenges we faced in analysing the problems that devided communities.

It is important to make the younger generations aware of the important role our forefathers played in enriching and preserving the national values.

It is this heritage that prompted us to institute grass roots programs in the longer interest of village awakening.

Q: Can you elaborate the economic policies which you have implemented?

A: Our micro platform is our economic sustainability foundation since the inception of the Sanasa Development Bank and Sanasa Cooperative Movement, we have nurtured and strengthend our unique micro finance model empowering communities while playing a vital role in poverty alleviation. We also infuse environmental awareness and environment friendly and economically viable projects.

Our mandate is to uplift communities economically and ensure that they become sustainable and responsible for their actions socially and environmentally .

Q: During the last three years the Sanasa Development Bank has expanded its network in the Northern and the eastern parts of the country. Would you explain.

A: The network of over 8,000 Sanasa Primary Cooperative Societies, operate under the apex organisation, the Sanasa Movement. The primary societies are affiliated to the Sanasa district unions or the federation. It is creditable that these cooperative credit and thrift societies have remained the backbone of the country's micro financing cooperative network for over a century. While the lifeline of micro financing remained primarily within the cooperative movement, the transforming global and technological milieu spurred the genesis of the Sanasa Development Bank in order to streamline the development of the overall Sanasa Movement.

Q: Sanasa movement has its network extended to areas such as engineering development insurance and education. What are the objectives of such ventures?

A: The Sanasa Group has an integral role to play in ensuring that the country's micro financing industry adequately contributes to the overall economic development.

This necessitated the addition of other complementary entities to add value to our final goal.

The Sanasa Engineering and Development Company - SEDCO - set up to develop the infrastructure and cater to the increasing demand for specialised engineering and construction services especially in community projects linked to water, sanitation and waste management.

The Sanasa Consumer Producer Alliance (SANIPA) was conceived to bridge the gap between the consumer and producer helping to ease the burden of both.

Sanasa Education Campus in Kegalle was set up to provide training and developing culture for the entire Sanasa movement.