Dr. Janaka Ratnasiri Nawala Courtesy:  The Island ( Opinion )

September 4, 2015

At the opening of the 8th session of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the President said that Sri Lanka would lay a red carpet to welcome Sri Lankan intellectuals, if those presently working overseas decide to return to Sri Lanka. He further said that a special unit would be set up in the Presidential Secretariat to facilitate their return.

This offer made by the President is certainly laudable, which no other President had done before. It is very encouraging to find that the President has realized the importance of the role that intellectuals could play in the country’s development. I am sure he will receive applauds from every sector of the society for his decision. There are also many lessons he can learn if he could spare some time to study how the countries in the region have developed in recent years giving priority, particularly for science.

In this respect, what comes to my mind is the case of South Korea. Several decades of war in Korea with many foreign interventions resulted in the division of Korea into two countries, North Korea and South Korea, the former coming under a communist regime while the latter coming under a pro-American regime. At the end of the war, economies of both countries were in shambles with high poverty level. Most people used to live in shanties so much so that even in Sri Lanka, shanties were called Koreas. Hence, the Korean authorities sought assistance from USA to better their living conditions with a long term plans.

At a meeting between the President Lyndon B. Johnson of USA and President Chung-Hee Park of S. Korea held in 1965, the USA President had asked his counterpart, what assistance he needed from USA. His reply was that he needed a well-equipped modern institute to undertake research and development in science to uplift Korea’s industry. His request was promptly acceded to with a generous grant and the two countries signed an agreement to establish the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 1966. Dr. Choi Hyung-sup, who happened to be the Minister of Science and Technology at that time, was appointed as the first President of KIST. A special law was passed to provide total independence to KIST even from normal government auditing though funding came solely from the government in its formative years.

Dr. Choi’s first task was to find people to run the institute. So, he made a visit to USA where a large number of Koreans were employed in various universities, institutes and industries, contacted them personally and offered them positions in KIST with better remuneration and research facilities than what they were already having. According to a USAID mission report, Dr. Choi’s”effort resulted in the recruitment of nearly 30 expatriate scientists, living and working abroad, all of whom had at least five years of relevant experience beyond the doctoral degree level. Because of its autonomous status, KIST is able to continue to attract outstanding scientists and engineers by offering salaries well above civil service levels, attractive working environments, paid sabbaticals, and generous benefit packages, including housing, transportation, etc”.

During its near 50-year existence, KIST which was later turned into a more advanced institute calling itself KAIST, was instrumental in converting S. Korea from a shanty-dwelling country to a country with a strong economy in Asia thanks to many innovations, particularly in electronics and material science, that KAIST helped to develop and later transferred to industry. They are world leaders not only in electronics products, but also in steel industry and ship building. The key character that enabled Korea’s success is the independence it gave scientists to work in a research-conducive environment with freedom to travel and purchase what they want without having to seek permission from bureaucrats and ministers at every stage as happening in Sri Lanka.

Now, the question is whether the Sri Lankan government could offer such independence and facilities to those scientists who respond to the President’s call and welcome on a red-carpet? After receiving on a red-carpet, where will they be assigned to work? Will the head of the institution or the department or university where they are accommodated give them the total independence to work? In Sri Lanka’s administrative set up, the key bane is the intervention of the minister at every stage. To cite one example, ministers take great pleasure in controlling foreign travel of public officers. Here too, there is no single set of guidelines. Some ministers are very strict in seeing that one officer does not travel more than a few occasions in a year, while others have more relaxed regulations. Cannot the approval process be handled within the organization following a set guidelines?

In Sri Lanka, every activity of a public organization needs the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, be it holding a conference, signing an agreement with another organization, purchase of equipment, award of contracts for construction of buildings, recruiting senior staff etc., as evident in weekly Cabinet decisions published in newspapers. It appears only little time is spent on policy and national matters. To obtain the Cabinet approval, first a cabinet paper has to be submitted under the signature of the line minister, which could take from several weeks to several months which is at the discretion of the minister or his secretary. Under such an administrative set up, little could be achieved even if the individual officers or scientists have the necessary drive, but stalled by the ‘red’ light at the ministries.

The President will have an enormous task in getting the proposal to engage expatriate Sri Lankan intellectuals, successfully launched. It needs the understanding, cooperation and encouragement of officials in ministries and organizations where they are supposed to commence working.The mindset of everyone concerned needs to change. The President has provided the key ingredient; that is the political will. Let us hope and pray he will succeed in bringing his dream to fruition.

Dr. Janaka Ratnasiri

Nawala

Courtesy:  The Island ( Opinion ) Sept. 05, 2015

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