http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1362 Wed, 07 Jan 2026 03:59:29 GMT 2026-01-07T03:59:29Z http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1374 Poverty Reduction in Sri Lanka Evaluating the Impact of Public Policy with Reference to the Samurdhi Programme Fernando, R. Lalitha S Poverty in developing countries, if not addressed urgently, could be regarded as a violation of human rights and a denial of the most basic needs of the poor. How to reduce poverty is the most pressing issue of the development community, Sri Lanka has no ,/ excuse. Even though, Sri Lanka has implemented various poverty alleviation programmes for last several decades, the incidence of poverty still exists. "Samurdhi programme" is another major effort introduced by the previous government of Sri Lanka, aiming at ensuring the country's prosperity through poverty reduction, job creation and development of human resources among the poor. Since 1996, this programme IS considered as one of the major national development policies of the country. To date the prog~amme has completed the io" year of its operation. In order to accelerate the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme, an evaluation at the participant level rather than aggregate level would provide more detailed picture of both successes and drawbacks of the programme. This research is an effort to examine the effectiveness of the Samurdhi programme in terms of its intended objectives at the participant level. Main objective of this study is three fold; to find out whether the Samurdhi programme has achieved its intended objectives, to find out what benefits and changes that the beneficiaries actually have received and to discover any success or drawbacks of the programme. The Quasi-Experimental type design was used for the evaluation of the Samurdhi Programme. Two groups were compared in this approach, one having being exposed to the programme and the other have not been. If the exposed group shows a significantly higher incidence of the desired condition or behavior, it is assumed to be attributable to the programme. In this regard, the data was gathered from a sample consisting of two hundred ten Samurdhi beneficiary families and another two hundred ene families from non-beneficiary group selected from ten villages in Panadura Divisional Secretariat in Kalutara District. The success of the programme was measured in terms of the relationship among the objectives of the programme and its performance. The data was analyzed mostly by using both quantitative and qualitative descriptive methods to examine whether there was any improvement have achieved by the Samurdhi beneficiaries than non-beneficiaries. The Chi-Square test was also used to examine any significant difference attributed to the beneficiary group. The study revealed that even the income level, consumption level and the living standard of the Samurdhi beneficiary families have been increased, these cases are of limited in number. Majority of the selected families still depend on the Samurdhi benefits and remain in poor. The study concluded that the --, Samurdhi programme has not been achieved its.jndented'tobjectives at a satisfactory level. Any poverty reduction policy needs a multiple approach in which several activities such as delivering cash benefits for improving their consumption, empowering and awakening the poor community could be envisaged. In this respect, the theory behind the programme could be considered as good, as a multiple approach, in which attempts to get the poor involved in to the participative mechanism with a component of community development, but is bad in practice due to various drawbacks revealed by the study. By recognizing its major drawbacks, finally, the study proposes policy measures to increase the effectiveness of the poverty reduction policy in Sri Lanka. Thu, 02 Jan 2014 06:04:25 GMT http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1374 2014-01-02T06:04:25Z http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1368 Determinants of Managerial Innovation in University Administration in Sri Lanka Fernando, R. L. S. Universities as higher educational institutions are expected to playa crucial role in shaping and developing human resources required for the development process in a country. Universities are expected to provide employable graduates who must possess the required knowledge and skills with positive attitudes. Thus, providing quality graduates would be one of main purposes of any university. The government of Sri Lanka provides education facilities from grade one to the university level and the total expenditure incurred for the education has been provided from the General Treasury. In this context, the education is imparted free of charge for students. This situation has long been contributed for empowering nation's human resources. The government of Sri Lanka allocates 2.08% ofthe GDP (Gross National Product) (Central bank of Sri Lanka:2009) to maintain the entire education system (the school and the university education). However, lack of financial resources is one of main constraints being faced by State universities. This situation is severely affecting on the student performance. Even though, there remain financial and other constraints, authorities of the state universities could not reduce or terminate the expected service delivery. Under this situation University authorities face several difficulties in implementing their plans and in achieving their targets. However, this paper argues that despite the financial and other constraints, university administration has to find alternatives to achieve its intended objectives. As an alternative, this study also argues that if the authorities of the university perform in innovative ways in managing their educational programmes, that would lead to improve the quality and the relevance of the output of the universities leading to more effective and efficient administration. Thus, this study examines the utility of innovation theory in university administration in Sri Lanka. The study attempts to answer several research questions; 1) What would count "innovation" in the university administration? 11), What is the level of innovation in the university administration?, 111). What are the factors affecting innovation in the university administration? and iv). What can be done to improve innovation in university administration in Sri Lanka? Both quantitative and qualitative data have been utilized to address the research questions posed in this study. For the qualitative data, a purposive sample of 20 administrators was selected to explore innovative practices initiated by them. The sample was selected based on mainly a reputed snowballing technique. Descriptive analysis was undertaken to answer the research questions posed in this study. For the quantitative data, a random sample consisting of 166 (coordinators, heads, and deans) of the public universities in Sri Lanka was selected. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings confirmed that innovation is possible and already functioning within the university administration. Innovation in university administration means introducing and implementing systems of management by using new ideas to improve efficient and effective degree programs, departments or the faculties. The respondents' assessment of behavioral patterns of managerial innovation indicates a higher level. The study presents several innovative practices initiated by the selected university administrators which have potential benefits to the universities in terms of students and the university as a whole. Nearly 60 percent of the sample responses are in the scales of strongly agree to support for innovative behavior. The study identified that the administrators' motivation to achieve is the significant determinant of the managerial innovation in the university administration. This factor alone explains nearly 20 % of the variance of managerial innovations in the university administration. The other determinants are; supportive environment, support ofthe external environment, skillful human resources, and the administrators' age. These factors altogether explain nearly 37% of variance of the dependent variable. The in-depth interviews also confirm the research findings except the age of administrators. In contrast to the quantitative data analysis, the in-depth analysis reveals that the factor, "administrators' age" does not seem to be a problem. More experienced administrators involve in innovative activities with much confidence. Improving efficiency, quality, and effectiveness of the educational programmes are the direct benefits of the innovation. Based on the findings of the study, policy measures are proposed to improve innovation in the state university administration in Sri Lanka. Thu, 02 Jan 2014 05:46:22 GMT http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1368 2014-01-02T05:46:22Z http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1363 An Evaluation of Criteria for Planned Community Resettlement in Sri Lanka, Social, Physical and Economical Impact Assessments from Resettlement Projects in Hambantota District Perera, T G U P Thu, 02 Jan 2014 05:36:08 GMT http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1363 2014-01-02T05:36:08Z