Transacciones con relacionadas y sus efectos en resultados

Employment in public service offers us another opportunity to see how governments in Sri Lanka have utilized a preference policy to promote the major ethnic community in Sri Lanka. During the colonial period, the public service was the main source of high-status jobs in Sri Lanka. After independence, competition for jobs in the public service increased, especially with the rapid expansion of educational opportunities in Sinhalese areas.

The Jaffna Tamils and the Burghers profited from a disproportionately strong representation in the higher administrative services during the colonial period; the reasons for this state of affairs are well-known. The prospects for agricultural expansion in the Jaffna peninsula were limited due to physical factors that were less favorable than in other parts of the country. Besides, the man-land ratio had been unfavorable. The Tamils, therefore, felt a special need to seek a living outside Jaffna. A job within the government service was considered attractive from both the remunerative and status viewpoints. As a result of the establishment of numerous Christian missionary schools, the educational opportunities, especially with regard to education in English, have been advantageous for the Tamils. That is, the Tamils received a disproportionate number of government jobs available in the colonial administration (Only the Colombo district

could match this privileged position of Jaffna). Therefore, many Sinhalese believed that the British had shown preference to the Tamils.

During the colonial period, Sri Lanka was dominated socially and economically by those who were able to obtain Engligh-based education. A large gap of social status and culture existed between the English-speaking elite and the vernacular educated. The effect of this schism was that a large vernacular educated Sinhala population was effectively prevented from obtaining employment in the private and public sectors. To correct this situation, most Sinhalese were willing to utilize their numerical strength to install a government that would make a significant move in this direction. Such a move, of course, was likely to be seen as a direct attempt to prevent Tamils from obtaining employment opportunities.

The introduction of the Sinhala only policy in 1956 implied that Sinhala became the official language of the government administration. Knowledge of Sinhala became a prerequisite for employment in the government services, and those already employed were supposed to learn Sinhala within a certain period. The introduction of ‘Sinhala only’ language policy and the limiting of educational opportunities for Tamils have witnessed a general increase of the Sinhalese proportion in the skilled and professional areas of government service and a corresponding decline of the Tamil proportion. The Sinhalese composition of administrative service increased from 53.9 per cent in 1948 to 85.2 per cent in 1979; general clerical service from a 53.7 per cent in 1949 to 93.6 per cent in 1980; and general accountant service from a 40.5 per cent in 1948 to 60.8 per cent

in 1979. The Tamils composition of administrative service declined from 24.7 per cent in 1948 to 13.1 per cent in 79; general clerical service from a 40.7 per cent in 1949 to 5.4 per cent in 1980; and general accountant service from a 46.2 per cent in 1948 to 38.6 per cent in 1979. Table 3.1 shows the changes of ethnic composition of public service for selected years.

Table 3.1: Sri Lanka: Composition of public service 1948, 1979/80

Public service Sinhalese Tamils Others

Administrative service 1948 1979 53.9 85.2 24.7 13.1 21.4 1.7

General Clerical service 1949 1980 53.7 93.6 40.7 5.4 5.6 1.0

General accountant service 1948 1979 40.5 60.8 46.2 38.6 13.4 0.6 Population 1948 1980 69.6 74.0 22.7 18.2 7.7 7.8 Source: Samarasinghe (1984), Peiris (2001)

According to Bastiampillai (1995), from 1956 onwards, Sinhalese-dominated governments have discriminated against non-Sinhalese in recruitment exercises. Within a matter of years after 1956 the ethnic composition of the public service became Sinhalese- dominated. By 1979 and 1980 the representation of the Sinhalese in the higher ranks of occupations had thus reached beyond the proportion of their population and minorities were underrepresented in the public sectors and corporation sector.

As a result of the nationalization programs which started in the 1960s, government has emerged as a major employer. The continuous political dominance by the Sinhalese is certainly reflected in their employment preference policies. These policies on behalf of the Sinhalese were perceived by the Sinhalese as the rectification of anomalies created during the colonial period; the same action was perceived by the Tamils as a grievous erosion of their rights. There have been some attempts to change this situation since the early 1990s, but the government sector is still overwhelmingly biased towards the Sinhalese with regard to employment.

It has been argued that as a result of the ‘Sinhala only’ policy opportunities for the Tamils in public sector employment have been drastically and negatively affected. The counter argument to this is that after the World War II, most of the rural Sinhalese have been affected by the two changes: rapid increase in population growth and fall in prices for primary agricultural products. The most significant effect of these changes was the alteration of the aspiration of the people. The Sinhalese, who had previously been satisfied to live off the land, which was now inadequate for their sustenance, began to demand that the government job opportunities should be made available to them also. A government job has a higher rating than any other occupation in the country; besides, it provides the individual a fixed income and a pension. Standing in the way of the Sinhalese obtaining this job was their lack of an English-based education.