Assessing the efficacy of the provincial councils system on its local service delivery: issues, challenges and the way forward

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, the need for a decentralization mechanism has been a popular topic of debate in the functional body politic since independence. Decentralization reforms have been introduced on a few occasions based on various social, political, and economic needs. A turning point in Sri Lankan politics was the introduction of the provincial council system in 1987 mainly due to pressure brought on by India. Provincial councils were established amidst various arguments and issues. Three decades of experience have shown that the provincial councils function as sub-national level governments that are better able to meet the diverse and special demands of the different provinces. Therefore, this paper focuses on the question of why the provincial council system is criticized by many. Accordingly, the objective of this article is to investigate the issues and challenges faced by the Provincial Councils in providing more efficient services to the people of the different provinces. This paper also presents pertinent matters with reference to the literature review. This investigation found several causes that militated against the smooth functioning of the provincial council system. The most notable among these were a lack of political will on the part of the central government, lack of support from public officials, the dominance of central government institutions and political authority, financial dehydration, lack of human resources, bad behavior of provincial politicians, the unpopularity of the minorities, lack of consensus among political parties, lack of a solution to the ethnic issue, structural design failures, and various legal issues. The ministerial administration of the central government used to execute all governance responsibilities before the establishment of the provincial council system in 1987. Consequently, many central government officials and agencies continued to operate at the local level even after the provincial councils were established. As this rendered the provincial councils ineffectual, it would be more appropriate to establish a new administrative unit representing all these institutions to realize the role expected of the provincial council system. Accordingly, there is a need to reform the provincial council system to deliver a more efficient service to the citizens through a new local administrative unit.