Man of the Common Man

Remembering Philip Gunawardena on his 44th death anniversary:

The 44th Philip Gunawardena Commemoration will be held at Sports Complex Auditorium, No.09, Philip Gunawardena Mawatha, Colombo 7 (in front of Royal College/Lakpahana), at 4.15p.m. March 29. The event will be, chaired by Dr. P.J. Kiriwandeniya and the keynote address will be delivered by Former Vice-chancellor of Colombo University & Vice-chancellor of Sanasa Campus, Eminent Economist Prof. W.D. Lakshman.

by Garvin Karunaratne, retired SLAS

The year 1956 marks a watershed in Sri Lankan politics. That was the year when the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), the coalition of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by SWRD Bandaranaike and the Viplavakari Lanka Samasamaja Party (VLSSP) of Philip Gunawardena scored a massive victory, ushering the day of the Common Man.

Entering the service of the government as an Assistant Commissioner for Development of Agricultural Marketing in August 1955, I was just groping in the dark depths of administration when Philip Gunawardena took charge as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives. He was assisted by Dr G.V. S. de Silva, Lecturer in Economics at the University of Peradeniya, my Sub Warden at Arunachalam Hall. The combination of GVS and Philip offered the country a socialist vision that breathed life to the vast majority of people.

I had been lured into socialist politics from my childhood because my father held a contract to provide public address equipment for the Lanka Samasamaja Party for years and with a number of political meetings held on the same day, we had no technicians to man every site. I was entrusted with the equipment and I have thus had the occasion to listen again and again to the orations of NM, Colvin and SA a few hundred times. They all succeeded in brain washing me. They were very factual and could convince anyone with ease that the down trodden masses must have their day. With the entry of Philip Gunawardena into the fray, we had the fieriest speaker that one could ever imagine.

NM, Colvin and SA were forceful speakers but they did not have the pungent force of a Philip. He spoke of what was dear to our hearts- the well being of the Common Man.

Silence

I can yet remember the day when the Workers Union at Tripoli Market, where I worked invited him for a meeting. There was pin drop silence when Philip took the floor. He spoke about the problems faced by the down trodden masses and how they would be actually saved by him. The emotive words he used, the force with which each word was pronounced, the forceful moves of his forearm, the stern look on his face with his hair disheveled , the manner he dashed his fist on the table, his spectacles dashing on the table again and again, all activated the audience. Each word was uttered with venomous force, which took possession of those that listened. So many times I have seen him dashing his spectacles on the table, never have I seen it break!

We officers all got activated to work for the down trodden masses. It was a vision that the trio Drs, NM, Colvin and SA had repeatedly sounded from the stage. All these ideas for the first time got into a process of action with Philip Gunawardena becoming a member of SWRD's Cabinet in 1956.

There is a fundamental difference in being a powerless critic, where one can make hair raising speeches as opposed to being a powerful critic when one is at the helm as a minister. That was Philip Gunawardena from the MEP Victory in 1956 till his exit from the Cabinet on May 19, 1959. His Ministry perhaps included the work of about twenty ministries of today.

Throughout his period as minister he never lost touch with the masses. From day one he continued his mission to serve the people. His main achievements during this period was the Paddy Lands Act that provided security of tenure to the thousands of tenant cultivators who worked on the paddy fields and paid at most times half the crop to the landlord. The Act decided that the landlord's share had to be limited to a fourth of the crop. Further the paddy lands were to be administered by a cultivation committee elected by the landlords and cultivators where the composition had to be three fourths from cultivators and a fourth from the landlords.

The landlords were up in arms, but they were helpless. The election was to be held by secret ballot.

A new Department of Agrarian Services was established to implement the Paddy Lands Act and also be in charge of the distribution of fertilizer to paddy cultivators, implement the fertilizer subsidy scheme for paddy farmers, provide agricultural credit, provide crop insurance, purchase paddy from farmers under the Guaranteed Price Scheme and also to take charge of minor irrigation, a subject that had hitherto being handled by the Government Agents of the Districts. Except for the Paddy Lands Act, the rest had been done earlier but under Philip Gunawardena it had to be done. There was no turning back. Every officer had to give of his best. His staff was all handpicked.

Instrumental

Philip Gunawardena was also the creator of the concept of Multipurpose Co-operatives Societies and was instrumental in other important innovations like establishing the People's Bank to handle finance, and the nationalisation of the bus service, all of which formed the development infrastructure intended to help the farmer in his march from being a subsistence farmer to become a commercial farmer.

The Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing where I worked handled the Guaranteed Price Scheme to buy paddy from genuine farmers at a premium price. This Department also disbursed loans to farmers, provided fertilizer on a subsidy scheme, and implemented crop insurance. It also implemented the Vegetable and Fruit Marketing Scheme, a scheme that is unique to Sri Lanka. Its function was twofold- to provide a high price to the producer to encourage production as well as sell to the consumer at cheap rates, a scheme that kept inflation of local produce in check.

Philip Gunawardena breathed fire into the Departments that existed earlier and got them working at maximum capacity.

The Paddy Lands Act was entirely designed and implemented by Philip. That was his concept of Power to the People, the idea for which he had spoken again and again. It was worked with venomous force and revolutionized the agricultural sector.

Minister Philip Gunawardena was also the father of socialism in Sri Lanka. He was the first to get it into action as a government program. He was pro-nationalisation and was a key figure in the nationalisation of the public transport system. He believed in the development of the public sector and entrusting it with responsibility. Nationalisation was worked in favour of the masses as opposed to the functioning of the private sector where the motive is making the maximum profit.

The Marketing Department which I have detailed earlier marks the Public Sector working for the cause of the people. Today there is an easy 100% mark up between the producer's price and the sale price in Colombo. In the days of the Marketing Department I would have been hung if I kept a margin of over 15 per cent.

That encapsulates the essence of the socialist concepts that was always dear to the heart of Philip Gunawardena.

However, all was not well in the government. By that time the rightist element in the government which resented the march towards socialism gained ground and they voiced themselves forcefully against the socialist programs of Philip Gunawardena. It took on a virulent form of a march on the streets led by Minister Vimala Wijeywardena. Philip could no longer work in the Cabinet and left the government on May 19, 1959.

Philip Gunawardena is one of the very few personages in modern Sri Lanka who has left his imprint on the sands of time.

(The writer holds a PhD from Michigan State University)