Features

Grassroots Wisdom ~ I

Published

4 years ago

2022/04/4

Change must come from within: communities must be able to make their own decisions, regarding their future. Economic development and social change cannot be imposed from without. It must begin from within even though the initial nudges may have to come from outside

By MOIN QAZI

Development economists acknowledge that the poor act rationally, however, straitened their circumstances may be. If their efforts are too thinly spread to be efficient, it is because the markets for land, credit, or insurance have failed them. Good management of even the smallest asset can be crucial to very poor people, who live in precarious conditions. Through their individual and collective efforts, local entrepreneurs can lead significant change by building self-reliance in their geographies.

Since they know community dynamics and power relationships, they are well-attuned to handle the actors in the local ecosystem. They have the potential to become changemakers. Their potential to drive change is tremendous ~ but they often lack opportunities for training and education, and are unable to access networks and finance. They are an essential part of society and often don’t receive the credit that they deserve as policy drivers and implementers in India’s challenging developmental space.

Any work you do in any community has to be owned by the community. They must see it as theirs, otherwise they will agree to what you say; but as soon as you pull out, they are going to revert to their old way because they do not own it. So, one of the things we had to learn was that you must go in with partners who have worked in these places for a long time and are from the community. Change must come from within: communities must be able to make their own decisions regarding their future.

Economic development and social change cannot be imposed from without. It must begin from within even though the initial nudges may have to come from outside. Lasting change comes about so slowly that one may not notice it until people resist being taken care of. They need to be given a chance to fulfill their potential. When we design solutions that recognise the poor as clients or customers, as people we must negotiate with, and not as passive recipients of charity, we have a real chance to end poverty.

Policymakers and development scientists must no longer think of economics as an esoteric discipline and should go back to real life so that policies are better designed and are embedded with grassroots values. Their policy-making must be informed by ethical norms, economic rationale and welfare values. They must understand that a nuanced grasp of local dynamics is also important to the development of relevant policies.

Indian society is not monochromatic nor amenable to a singular solution; it is very heterogeneous presenting unparalleled ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity, ecological specificities, political trajectories, complex caste community configurations and diverse economic endowments. All these are underpinned by a socially rigid and unequal caste system that is now undergoing seismic churning. Social realities, like political and economic realities, are fluid and evolving.

Historically disadvantaged groups, such as Dalits (formerly “untouchables”), are now reshaping politics and gaining social mobility. It is the participation of the users in planning, implementation and social audit of these programmes that is critical to their success because their inputs emanate from local realities. The success of any new and innovative social or economic enterprise depends largely on how you insulate the project from political influences. We should be able to harness grassroots talents, local knowledge, and wisdom for the development of native communities. This way we enlist their buy-in and active participation.

We are also able to leach out any residual animus of local vested interests, thereby ensuring a more conducive environment for project execution. We also have to ensure that in the process of scaling our ideas we do not cause collateral damage to the groups whose problems we are addressing. In the new development agenda, decision-making cannot be played out in the same way that development economists have perceived the poor: desperate citizens who need to be rescued by the elite. They will have to understand what people are doing to improve their composite livelihoods. It is then alone that they can make a real contribution.

They will have to integrate grassroots practices into their theoretical frameworks rather than hastily proposing templates that serve the interests of elites. The imbalance between the growth policies for rural vis-a-vis urban population has led to unsustainable development. A major new insight gleaned from studies of these development programmes is that our policies are influenced more by theory and less by practice.

Societies are not cut from the same cloth and people within the same community are also not homogenous. They have their peculiarities. Hence solutions need to be more specific and tailored to address their distinct cultures. This understanding and the policies that are informed by them can make change sustainable.

The project should be clear on when and how beneficiaries will participate and how decisions will be made. This should be discussed and agreed with the ultimate beneficiaries, it is important to consider how community voices can be brought into policy dialogues e.g. by ensuring groups that represent these beneficiaries are consulted and represented in the dialogue process.

We must not forget that we are working with a constituency that is both politically and socially mute. At any rate, we cannot hear it. The poor are rarely visible because the well-off urban developers have little interest in their lives. In a country with more poor people than the 25 poorest African countries combined, this apathy is a failure not merely of intellectual curiosity but moral values. There are many lessons to be brought to the table from field experience.

We need to understand existing human conditions rather than hastily proposing templates that serve the interests of the owners. Experts need to combine their knowledge with grassroots action and a wider community of practice. The incredibly evolving and complicated ecosystem requires better collaboration and partnerships for understanding, analyzing, designing solutions, and undertaking impact studies to contribute to the wider knowledge pool within the sector.

We should not expect effective citizens’ engagement to progress in a smooth linear growth or along a predictable trajectory. It is conditioned by several imperatives. Local inequality, geography, history, networks, nature of social interactions and political systems are crucial in determining the outcomes of any strategy or approach. For any intervention to build sustainable roots in a culture, we require a shift in social equilibrium that derives from modifying norms and social cultures and changing the nature of social interactions.

These require a fundamentally different approach to development – one that is long term, flexible, self-critical, and strongly infused with the spirit of learning by doing. There is no precooked blueprint ready to be replicated. Individuals can make a difference in fighting poverty when ways are found to institutionalize creative ideas. But along a factory model, the replication of successful models continues to be the guiding mantra of development programmes.

There is a need to aggregate the issues and lessons from diverse initiatives in livelihoods and develop a comprehensive understanding that can help design viable and sustainable solutions for composite livelihoods. The truth of a marginalised community can come out only with time. It takes time for trust to build between them and the outsider, so the outsider can peel away the layers and approach the truth. Even though the poor constitute a vast majority of Indian voters, they have been shut out of public discourse by being trapped in a system that is rigged against them.

It’s crucial to help people shift their thinking so they believe they can do the job. Role models matter more than words. Mentors are more important than formal training. To that end, we must introduce them to those who are succeeding in the kind of environment in which they themselves will need to succeed. The knowledge that professionals have accumulated must be passed on face to face, revealing culture in action.

The notion that poor people are lazy and are averse to change is not true. They are certainly amenable to change but do not always have the knowhow. They need information and hand-holding. We need to give them the tools and nudge them to use them for their betterment. We cannot approach people with readymade solutions. It is important to analyse the problems together to evolve solutions. Incidentally, this process is itself a great capacity-builder on both sides. Our communication should be: “How can we help?” or “How can we contribute?” and not “This is what you should do.”

The truly committed advocates are those who have firsthand knowledge of the problem they seek to solve. Personal experience is the best way to create change agents. Inadequate investment in locally-led initiatives is one of the ways by which we fail to ensure that those who are most affected by inequity are provided pathways to address their problems. If the users do not value the benefits, they will not use the facilities.

Local users have much better skills than engineers at transforming technologies to work in their situations easier, and they can be held to account by citizens. Even the best university-taught skills will not be particularly useful if they are not grounded in the local cultures.

(To Be Continued)

(The writer is an author, researcher and development professional)

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Features

Recruiting academics to state universities – beset by archaic selection processes?

Published

12 hours ago

2026/03/3

Thilina Walpola

by Kaushalya Perera

Time has, by and large, stood still in the business of academic staff recruitment to state universities. Qualifications have proliferated and evolved to be more interdisciplinary, but our selection processes and evaluation criteria are unchanged since at least the late 1990s. But before I delve into the problems, I will describe the existing processes and schemes of recruitment. The discussion is limited to UGC-governed state universities (and does not include recruitment to medical and engineering sectors) though the problems may be relevant to other higher education institutions (HEIs).

How recruitment happens currently in SL state universities

Academic ranks in Sri Lankan state universities can be divided into three tiers (subdivisions are not discussed).

* Lecturer (Probationary)

– recruited with a four-year undergraduate degree. A tiny step higher is the Lecturer (Unconfirmed), recruited with a postgraduate degree but no teaching experience.

* A Senior Lecturer can be recruited with certain postgraduate qualifications and some number of years of teaching and research.

* Above this is the professor (of four types), which can be left out of this discussion since only one of those (Chair Professor) is by application.

State universities cannot hire permanent academic staff as and when they wish. Prior to advertising a vacancy, approval to recruit is obtained through a mind-numbing and time-consuming process (months!) ending at the Department of Management Services. The call for applications must list all ranks up to Senior Lecturer. All eligible candidates for Probationary to Senior Lecturer are interviewed, e.g., if a Department wants someone with a doctoral degree, they must still advertise for and interview candidates for all ranks, not only candidates with a doctoral degree. In the evaluation criteria, the first degree is more important than the doctoral degree (more on this strange phenomenon later). All of this is only possible when universities are not under a ‘hiring freeze’, which governments declare regularly and generally lasts several years.

Problem type 1

– Archaic processes and evaluation criteria

Twenty-five years ago, as a probationary lecturer with a first degree, I was a typical hire. We would be recruited, work some years and obtain postgraduate degrees (ideally using the privilege of paid study leave to attend a reputed university in the first world). State universities are primarily undergraduate teaching spaces, and when doctoral degrees were scarce, hiring probationary lecturers may have been a practical solution. The path to a higher degree was through the academic job. Now, due to availability of candidates with postgraduate qualifications and the problems of retaining academics who find foreign postgraduate opportunities, preference for candidates applying with a postgraduate qualification is growing. The evaluation scheme, however, prioritises the first degree over the candidate’s postgraduate education. Were I to apply to a Faculty of Education, despite a PhD on language teaching and research in education, I may not even be interviewed since my undergraduate degree is not in education. The ‘first degree first’ phenomenon shows that universities essentially ignore the intellectual development of a person beyond their early twenties. It also ignores the breadth of disciplines and their overlap with other fields.

This can be helped (not solved) by a simple fix, which can also reduce brain drain: give precedence to the doctoral degree in the required field, regardless of the candidate’s first degree, effected by a UGC circular. The suggestion is not fool-proof. It is a first step, and offered with the understanding that any selection process, however well the evaluation criteria are articulated, will be beset by multiple issues, including that of bias. Like other Sri Lankan institutions, universities, too, have tribal tendencies, surfacing in the form of a preference for one’s own alumni. Nevertheless, there are other problems that are, arguably, more pressing as I discuss next. In relation to the evaluation criteria, a problem is the narrow interpretation of any regulation, e.g., deciding the degree’s suitability based on the title rather than considering courses in the transcript. Despite rhetoric promoting internationalising and inter-disciplinarity, decision-making administrative and academic bodies have very literal expectations of candidates’ qualifications, e.g., a candidate with knowledge of digital literacy should show this through the title of the degree!

Problem type 2 – The mess of badly regulated higher education

A direct consequence of the contemporary expansion of higher education is a large number of applicants with myriad qualifications. The diversity of degree programmes cited makes the responsibility of selecting a suitable candidate for the job a challenging but very important one. After all, the job is for life – it is very difficult to fire a permanent employer in the state sector.

Widely varying undergraduate degree programmes.

At present, Sri Lankan undergraduates bring qualifications (at times more than one) from multiple types of higher education institutions: a degree from a UGC-affiliated state university, a state university external to the UGC, a state institution that is not a university, a foreign university, or a private HEI aka ‘private university’. It could be a degree received by attending on-site, in Sri Lanka or abroad. It could be from a private HEI’s affiliated foreign university or an external degree from a state university or an online only degree from a private HEI that is ‘UGC-approved’ or ‘Ministry of Education approved’, i.e., never studied in a university setting. Needless to say, the diversity (and their differences in quality) are dizzying. Unfortunately, under the evaluation scheme all degrees ‘recognised’ by the UGC are assigned the same marks. The same goes for the candidates’ merits or distinctions, first classes, etc., regardless of how difficult or easy the degree programme may be and even when capabilities, exposure, input, etc are obviously different.

Similar issues are faced when we consider postgraduate qualifications, though to a lesser degree. In my discipline(s), at least, a postgraduate degree obtained on-site from a first-world university is preferable to one from a local university (which usually have weekend or evening classes similar to part-time study) or online from a foreign university. Elitist this may be, but even the best local postgraduate degrees cannot provide the experience and intellectual growth gained by being in a university that gives you access to six million books and teaching and supervision by internationally-recognised scholars. Unfortunately, in the evaluation schemes for recruitment, the worst postgraduate qualification you know of will receive the same marks as one from NUS, Harvard or Leiden.

The problem is clear but what about a solution?

Recruitment to state universities needs to change to meet contemporary needs. We need evaluation criteria that allows us to get rid of the dross as well as a more sophisticated institutional understanding of using them. Recruitment is key if we want our institutions (and our country) to progress. I reiterate here the recommendations proposed in ‘Considerations for Higher Education Reform’ circulated previously by Kuppi Collective:

* Change bond regulations to be more just, in order to retain better qualified academics.

* Update the schemes of recruitment to reflect present-day realities of inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary training in order to recruit suitably qualified candidates.

* Ensure recruitment processes are made transparent by university administrations.

Kaushalya Perera is a senior lecturer at the University of Colombo.

(Kuppi is a politics and pedagogy happening on the margins of the lecture hall that parodies, subverts, and simultaneously reaffirms social hierarchies.)

Features

Talento … oozing with talent

Published

12 hours ago

2026/03/3

Thilina Walpola

Talento: Gained recognition as a leading wedding and dance band

This week, too, the spotlight is on an outfit that has gained popularity, mainly through social media.

Last week we had MISTER Band in our scene, and on 10th February, Yellow Beatz – both social media favourites.

Talento is a seven-piece band that plays all types of music, from the ‘60s to the modern tracks of today.

The band has reached many heights, since its inception in 2012, and has gained recognition as a leading wedding and dance band in the scene here.

The members that makeup the outfit have a solid musical background, which comes through years of hard work and dedication

Their portfolio of music contains a mix of both western and eastern songs and are carefully selected, they say, to match the requirements of the intended audience, occasion, or event.

Although the baila is a specialty, which is inherent to this group, that originates from Moratuwa, their repertoire is made up of a vast collection of love, classic, oldies and modern-day hits.

The musicians, who make up Talento, are:

Prabuddha Geetharuchi:

Geilee Fonseka: Dynamic and charismatic vocalist

Prabuddha Geetharuchi: The main man behind the band Talento

(Vocalist/ Frontman). He is an avid music enthusiast and was mentored by a lot of famous musicians, and trainers, since he was a child. Growing up with them influenced him to take on western songs, as well as other music styles. A Peterite, he is the main man behind the band Talento and is a versatile singer/entertainer who never fails to get the crowd going.

Geilee Fonseka (Vocals):

A dynamic and charismatic vocalist whose vibrant stage presence, and powerful voice, bring a fresh spark to every performance. Young, energetic, and musically refined, she is an artiste who effortlessly blends passion with precision – captivating audiences from the very first note. Blessed with an immense vocal range, Geilee is a truly versatile singer, confidently delivering Western and Eastern music across multiple languages and genres.

Chandana Perera (Drummer):

His expertise and exceptional skills have earned him recognition as one of the finest acoustic drummers in Sri Lanka. With over 40 tours under his belt, Chandana has demonstrated his dedication and passion for music, embodying the essential role of a drummer as the heartbeat of any band.

Harsha Soysa:

(Bassist/Vocalist). He a chorister of the western choir of St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa, who began his musical education under famous voice trainers, as well as bass guitar trainers in Sri Lanka. He has also performed at events overseas. He acts as the second singer of the band

Udara Jayakody:

(Keyboardist). He is also a qualified pianist, adding technical flavour to Talento’s music. His singing and harmonising skills are an extra asset to the band. From his childhood he has been a part of a number of orchestras as a pianist. He has also previously performed with several famous western bands.

Aruna Madushanka:

(Saxophonist). His proficiciency in playing various instruments, including the saxophone, soprano saxophone, and western flute, showcases his versatility as a musician, and his musical repertoire is further enhanced by his remarkable singing ability.

Prashan Pramuditha:

(Lead guitar). He has the ability to play different styles, both oriental and western music, and he also creates unique tones and patterns with the guitar..

Features

Special milestone for JJ Twins

Published

12 hours ago

2026/03/3

Thilina Walpola

Twin brothers Julian and Jason Prins

The JJ Twins, the Sri Lankan musical duo, performing in the Maldives, and known for blending R&B, Hip Hop, and Sri Lankan rhythms, thereby creating a unique sound, have come out with a brand-new single ‘Me Mawathe.’

In fact, it’s a very special milestone for the twin brothers, Julian and Jason Prins, as ‘Me Mawathe’ is their first ever Sinhala song!

‘Me Mawathe’ showcases a fresh new sound, while staying true to the signature harmony and emotion that their fans love.

This heartfelt track captures the beauty of love, journey, and connection, brought to life through powerful vocals and captivating melodies.

It marks an exciting new chapter for the JJ Twins as they expand their musical journey and connect with audiences in a whole new way.

Their recent album, ‘CONCLUDED,’ explores themes of love, heartbreak, and healing, and include hits like ‘Can’t Get You Off My Mind’ and ‘You Left Me Here to Die’ which showcase their emotional intensity.

Readers could stay connected and follow JJ Twins on social media for exclusive updates, behind-the-scenes moments, and upcoming releases:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jjtwinsofficial

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jjtwinsmusic

Facebook: http://facebook.com/jjtwinssingers

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jjtwins