‘Gama Samaga Pilisadara’: Empowering rural masses

President at Gama Samaga discussion

By Shanika Sriyananda

Gayan Sandeepa

New carpeted road

A child studying under light

Prasanna Sanjeewa from Maduragama

K.A. Udeni and family

Gayan Sandeepa, a graduate of Sri Jayewardenepura University, was always reluctant to say that he hailed from the ancient village Neluwa in Lankagama, even though it is one of the beautiful and peaceful villages in Sri Lanka.

“We didn’t have good roads. They were just bumpy footpaths. During the rainy season, they disappeared in the water. We had to walk over eight kilometres to go to the nearest town. So I felt ashamed to tell my friends in the university that I was from Neluwa, a village that doesn’t have a road,” recalls Sandeepa (27).

Sandeepa said he studied hard as he wanted to migrate to a city as they lived with no basic facilities at Neluwa.

“When new teachers come to our school, their main concern is to get transfers immediately. We do not have teachers for all the subjects. We have to walk nearly eight kilometres to go to a tuition class in the town,” he said.

But, today he proudly says that he is from Neluwa as now they have a brand new carpeted motorable road going through their beautiful village with fresh air and lush green foliage.

“This road has been our dream since my childhood,” he said, echoing the sentiments of all villagers in Neluwa.

Since the day President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stepped into this village, they are witnessing how their village is being developed step-by-step.

“When someone was ill, we had to carry them on a cloth tied to two bamboo poles walking six to eight-kilometres to the hospital. It was a nightmare,” P.K. Wasantha (50) said.

Before the road that leads to Lankagama was developed, most villagers risked their lives to go to the nearest town as they had to cross the Ginga Ganga River from a hanging bridge. Even the school children were in this risky journey across the river daily to go to the school.

“No political representative looked at our grievances until the President came to our village. Not a single tree was felled to develop this new road in our village,” he said.

‘Gama Samaga Pilisadara’ – a dialogue with the village – is President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s unique program implemented to have a face-to-face discussion with rural poverty-stricken villagers to resolve their grievances.

Since his first meeting with villagers in Haldummulla on 25 September 2020, the Gama Samaga Pilisandara program was held in these remote villages: Himbiliyakada in Matale, Imbulpe in Balangoda, Kebethigollawa in Anuradhapura, Uhana in Mahiyanganaya, Weddikachchiya Pollonaruwa, Welallawita in Kalutara, Aluthwewa in Monaragala, Dickellakanda in Kegalle, Ududumbara in Kandy, Karuwalagaswewa in Puttlam, Gomarankadawala in Trincomalee, Weragala in Kurunegala, Galagoda in Hikkaduwa, Walapane in Nuwara Eliya, Kiriwelkele in Matara and Bogaswewa in Vavuniya. The program was held in 17 villages in 17 districts.

From housing to dilapidated roads to land ownership to shortages in rural schools and hospitals, scarcity of water for drinking and irrigation and human-elephant conflict, many unsolved issues at the rural level have been solved during President Rajapaksa’s discussions with villagers and officials in those areas.

Following the directives of the President, the officials have implemented short and long-term projects to solve those issues.

The development projects like constructing bridges, water tanks, carpeting rural roads, houses, electric fences, school buildings and playgrounds and hospital facilities are now progressing to empower villagers in those very remote areas, which were forgotten for many years.

K.A. Udeni (37) together with her husband and children spent sleepless nights in the adjoining forest patch to escape from wild elephants frequently storming their village.

Living in Wedikachchiya, a village in Medirigiriya, she said the entire village was living in fear due to wild elephants destroying their houses and cultivations.

Now, they breathe a sigh of relief as a new electric fence is under construction to prevent wild elephants from invading their remote village.

The decision to build the electric fence was taken at the sixth Gama Samaga Pilisandara program, which was held in Vedikachchiya village.

After listening to the plight of the villagers, President Rajapaksa instructed the authorities to erect an electric fence covering the village to protect it from attacks by wild elephants.

As a result of the discussion they had with the President, today they have re-started paddy cultivation in the lands that were abandoned due to scarcity of irrigational water, some years ago.

“Janadipathithuma ape gamata awata passé, game loku pibideemak thiyenawa. (After the President came to the village it is regaining prosperity). We abandoned paddy cultivation as there is not enough water but I have already started cultivating paddy as we get water for irrigation now. We owe him a lot,” Udeni said.

She is also happy as their village school is being upgraded with facilities including a new Smart Classroom, library facilities and also fulfilling teacher shortages.

“Our youth was wasted as we fought with wild elephants for our survival. We couldn’t get a proper education. But we are happy as our children do not have to suffer like us,” Udeni’s husband Asanka said.

Maduragama and Weragala are very remote villages and Weragala has been identified as one of the poorest villages out of 35 Grama Niladhari Divisions in the Giribawa Divisional Secretariat.

Being a historical village, Weragala, according to folklore, is the hideout of Prince Saliya and Asokamala.

The villagers in these two villages – Weragala and Maduragama – are producing paddy and other seasonal crops – sesame, maize, cowpea, mung and undu.

Twenty-three-year-old Darshika Thilakasiri always dreamed of building a house for herself. She lived in a mud and thatched house, which had no windows and doors, and water leaked from the roof during rains.

Prasanna Sanjeewa from Maduragama is a proud beneficiary who got a house from the President.

“I really do not know how to express my happiness. I got a new house. My only dream was to own a house for my children,” Sanjeewa said.

Being a casual labourer, he struggles like many other villagers in Maduragama to find a living to feed his family.

“It is really a dream that the President came to our poor village to help us. Today, I own a beautiful house. I would never have been able to build this house in my life with my daily earnings,” he said with tears.

His mud and thatched mud house was shaky during windy and heavy rainy days. “We owe our President Rajapaksa for giving my children shelter to sleep well during rainy days,” Sanjeewa said.

Kanugahawewa village, which is 273km off from Colombo and 73 km from Anuradhapura, was a border village that was under constant attacks by the LTTE terrorists.

At the fourth Gama Samaga Pilisadara held at the Kanugahawewa Primary School playground, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa directed the Sri Lanka Air Force on 30 December 2020, to build houses for the homeless low-income families.

During his inspection tour, the President inaugurated the Kanugahawewa Model Village on 4 April, making the dreams of these villagers a reality.

Making her dream a reality, she also received a brand new house with all facilities. “I still can't believe we got a house like this with all the facilities. We never thought a President of Sri Lanka would come to our poor village. We are now living in our new home with our little daughter Danujana without fear,” she said.

Thanking President Rajapaksa for providing houses for very poor families in the village, she said they believe that her daughter’s luck made them get a house.

"I have never watched TV," Yohan Sandeepa of Velanwita said “Now we watch educational programs on TV at school. We are very happy now. Our village is developing now. We all thank our President for giving us facilities,”

Like Sandeepa, villagers in Velanwita are now connected to the world as the latest technology has reached their village.

Haldummulla, Velanwita has gone to history as it was the village where President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa held his first 'Gama Samaga Pilisadarak’ to solve the issues at the village level.

After seven months of his first visit to Velanwita, he had a fact-finding tour to the village to see the progress of work that was initiated under his directives to solve the problems in the village.

“I walk over one hour to go to school. We are very scared to walk on the road as there are wild elephants in our path to the school,” Sandeepa, who wants to become an engineer, said.

The day that the bus service commenced in Velanwita, was unforgettable for Sandeepa and the rest of the villagers who had scary journeys to the town due to threats from the wild elephants.

“We are now going to school by bus. We feel that the fearful days are over. We got carpeted roads, new houses, electricity and an electric fence to protect the village from the wild elephants,” Sandeepa said happily.

“People in this village suffered for many years as there were no proper roads, wild elephants destroyed properties and crops. Many government officials do not want to come to this village because living in this village is difficult due to lack of resources,” Velanwita Gannarama Seva Officer Nissanka (49) said, adding that Velanwita was the most difficult area where he had served during his 21-year service.

He said attacks from wild elephants are increasing as the elephant fence in the village was not properly maintained.

“Daily, I come to work traveling over 30 km. Velanvita has no electricity and safe drinking water, especially during the dry season,” Nissanka said.

Villagers in both Haldummulla and Velanwita go to Koslanda town to buy goods. They walk about 10 km to Koslanda and from there go to major cities like Haputale. Both villages had only one bus, which runs in the morning taking children to school. Villagers say most of the days the bus would not be there in the evening so those villagers who went to town to get essentials had to walk 10 km back to the village.

It was an arduous journey for them walking through forest patches. The children in both villages go to Velanwita Kumaratenna Vidyalaya walking over three kilometres on the dilapidated road where wild elephants had their corridors to the forest.

“I have realised that these villagers have new hopes. Primary school children are far behind the present world. Five years ago, the primary school in Velanvita was closed as there were not many children attending the school,” he said.

“But as soon as the President develops this Kumaratenna school, the children come to school with enthusiasm. One of the biggest problems we had was the lack of clean water to drink. Eighty percent of the work on the project, which began to provide water to village families, is now complete,” Nissanka said.

President Rajapaksa, who is always concerned about blending nature without harming the natural ecosystems of the environs when developing villages, has once said that people living in villages would never destroy the rural environment and that it was the villagers who have protected the environment so far.

Participating at the Gama Samaga Discussion held in the serene village in Meemure he said he wants to make the lives of villagers beautiful by taking development to their doorsteps.

The village of Meemure is located at one end of the Kandy District, 40 km away from Hunnasgiriya on the Kandy-Mahiyangana road and 35 km from the borders of the Badulla and Matale districts.

Gama Samaga Pilisadara has given a new form to the country’s problem-solving approach by making decisions, not in Colombo-based offices but at the doorsteps of villagers where they are also a part in solving their own problems.

The President also solved its long-felt needs like providing clean drinking water, houses for the needy, new roads, electricity and water for irrigation, in the village.

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was a livewire to bring peace by defeating the brutal LTTE terrorism. He was the brains behind the Colombo city beautification program that made Colombo the cleanest and most beautiful city that infused its natural surroundings and historical structures with modern garden city concepts.

Today, as the President of Sri Lanka, he has embarked on a new journey to make the lives of villagers comfortable by providing facilities enjoyed by city dwellers. He takes all efforts to make the lives of future generations secure and peaceful.

Named ‘Gama Samaga Pilisadara’ (Dialogue with the Villagers) President Rajapaksa’s flagship program commenced from the Haldummulla village in the Badulla district on 25 September 2020.

‘Gama Samaga Pilisadara’ is a people-centric program that was implemented based on the policy document called ‘A Vision for a Resurgent, Prosperous Country'. 'Deyata Eliya' – designed to electrify rural houses – was also launched by President Rajapaksa when he visited Maduragama, Weragala.

This document was prepared after having a series of interactions with villagers to identify their unresolved problems, grievances and disputes at the village level and not directed to top Government officials in the area.

This rural electrification program, which is one of the key projects in the national policy framework -Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, is targeted to provide electricity to all Samurdhi beneficiaries and low-income families.

The Ceylon Electricity Board is providing the connection free-of-charge and the beneficiaries can get loans at concessionary rates from the Samurdhi Bank for house wiring.

The Government expects to provide electricity to all the identified houses before the end of this year.

President Rajapaksa is donating 500 copies of books to each school in the area where the Gama Samaga Pilisadara was held to improve school library facilities. The book donations were made to schools under the project ‘A generation empowered with knowledge’. He is also handing over laptops donated by the SLT Mobitel and a television internet connection donated by Dialog Axiata to schools in these rural schools.

A program to grant title deeds to the families who have been living in government lands without clear ownership was commenced, which was also held in each area where the program was held.

A 14-member Presidential Task Force (PTF) titled ‘Rural Development Presidential Task Force on Gama Samaga Pilisadara’ was also appointed to review and implement decisions taken at the Gama Samaga Pilisadara, effectively, to resolve problems at the village level.

Mandated to look into the post-development measures taken after the President held his dialogue with villagers at each program, the PTF is headed by Minister Namal Rajapaksa.

The Task Force is vested with the responsibility of speedy completion of projects such as developing roads, providing safe drinking water, electricity, telecommunications, playgrounds, schools, hospitals, vocational training institutions, universities, addressing land issues, banking and financial facilities, improving facilities in markets, warehouses and Infrastructure facilities.

Assessing the pulse of the villagers, the President offered fair and pragmatic solutions for issues at the village level during his discussions at the ‘Gama Samaga Pilisadara’ program.

President inspecting a house damaged by wild elephants

Erecting a fence to keep wild elephants away from the village