Helping underprivileged, essence of life Ex-civil servant

by Upali SAMARASINGHE

More than half a century back most of those gained social mobility or high achievement on their academic achievements came from among the elites. Among those who succeeded in reaching the highest positions in society were those who had had their school education in the leading schools like Royal, S. Thomas' or Ananda. It was a rare exception for a son of a rural farmer to reach those heights. The other day we met such a person who looks back on his life and times, now living in retirement after a very successful career in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service but with a philosophical attitude telling us many things worth reflecting on.

I came from a rural family near Gampaha. My father was a farmer and my mother too helped him to grow crops. He was a man with a wide experience in life and instilled a religious background to us at home as devout Buddhists and so was my mother. I was admitted to the Gamapaha Buddhist School for my primary education and in due course I sat the Grade V Scholarship Examination as well as examinations to enter Ananda College and Royal College too in 1947, R.S. Jayaratna said.I was selected for Ananda College, but it was decided not to go to Ananda as I had to walk one and a half miles from home to the Gampaha railway station. I would have had to leave home before dawn to catch the train to Colombo to be in school at 7.30 in the morning and would be able to reach home only around 4.00 in the evening. The monthly railway season ticket was only 4 rupees, but it would have been too tiring for me, a child of 10 years at the time, he noted.

However when the results of the Grade V scholarship examination was out I was among those who had won the scholarship. I remember very well the day we got a letter from the Education Department informing that I was selected for admission as a scholarship student to Galahitiyawa Central College in our district. Therefore we decided to take the scholarship and attend the school nearer my home.

He said, I completed my secondary education in that school and sat the university entrance examination. I was successful and was informed by the Education Department that I was among the 10 students who had scored the highest marks among those from Central School and my scholarship will be extended to cover my university education. After entering the University of Peradeniya I selected history as my main subject and archaeology as the subsidiary. In 1961, when the results were out I had passed with a Second Class Upper, missing the First Class by only one mark.

Those who had performed exceptionally well in the degree examinations were offered the position of assistant lecturers and, I along with Dr. Sarath Amunugama and Prof. J.B. Disanayake were offered that position.

Landless

The prestigious Ceylon Civil Service was abolished in 1963 and the Sri Lanka Administrative Service was set up in its place. I sat for the SLAS Examination and was selected as a cadet officer.

Some of the positions I held were as District Land Officer in the remote Polonnaruwa. The late C.P. De Silva was the Minister and he was keen that all the landless peasant farmers should be given land - he wanted it done fast. But the regulations for alienating State land involved long procedures. Therefore we demarcated the plots for the beneficiaries roughly till the surveys and official documentation was over and settled families in those lands. The only criteria for selection were that the beneficiary should be landless, a farmer, had a family to support but there was no political influence in selecting the recipient.

I had the opportunity to work under Government Agents like K.H.J. Wijedasa and it was a pleasure to see the irrigation water being supplied to people who did not have water to cultivate their crops or providing electricity to rural people. When the lights came on, their eyes shone with joy and we were able to share their happiness with a sense of satisfaction, he said.

Mr. Jayaratna now in his 72nd year still looks youthful. He had held top executive positions like the Director Land Reform Commission in 1972 and the General Manager Mahaweli Development Authority and many other such positions.

"In life I believe that the greater thing is not to collect material wealth or seek high positions, but to share with others who do not have what we have. The essence of life is in helping less privileged people to better their living conditions. That is what I have learnt and I am now happy that I was able to use my position in the administrative service", he says.