Minister M.D. Banda an exemplary leader; 1965 Food Drive in a class of its own

by Eric. J. de Silva

Judging from the brief period of tw to three months I was attached to the Department of Agrarian Services as a CCS cadet, I knew I could not have asked for a better place to move into at the conclusion of the work of the Broadcasting and Information Commission. It was one job which enabled one to work at the grass-roots while being based in Colombo. I can do no better here than quote a chunk from an article I wrote to the The Island some years back:

“I had been attached to the Department of Agrarian Services for a few months in 1960-61 during my cadetship in the Ceylon Civil Service, and had every reason to be happy on being posted as Deputy Commissioner of Agrarian Services a few years later, in 1966. This department, which had been established by Mr.Phillip Gunewardene, Minister of Agriculture in the MEP government of 1956 to carry through his land reform program set in motion by the Paddy Lands Act of 1958, had acquired a new importance by this time, in the context of the Agricultural Development Program launched by the UNP government of 1965-70,.

It was the flagship project of the Dudley Senanayake government more popularly known as the Food Drive, and was personally directed by the Prime Minister himself As his close comrade-in-arms and trusted lieutenant it was Mr. M.D.Banda, Minister of Agriculture and Food who had to provide the operational leadership to the program, which gripped the attention of the whole country and even attracted attention from overseas during this period. I was, naturally, happy to be associated with a program which had as its objective the need to make this country self-sufficient in regard to its basic needs of food.

It must be said that I had never met the Minister or for that matter the Permanent Secretary, Mr. B.Mahadeva, earlier, and my first meeting with them was after assuming duties in my post. I had as my Commissioner Mr. J.V. Fonseka, a very senior officer of the Ceylon Civil Service to whom I was previously attached as CCS cadet. Both the Minister and the Permanent Secretary would have gone on his recommendation that I was a suitable person to hold the post of Deputy Commissioner (Paddy Lands) which had fallen vacant in his Department.

Mr. M.D. Banda, incidentally, had already acquired a reputation as a Minister who did not carry prejudices against public officers on the basis of where they had worked earlier, and had in his team many officers who had worked very closely with the previous administration. He proved to be the consummate politician who could judge an officer on the quality of his or her work rather than be carried away by symbolic gestures or outward manifestations of loyalty.

Among the main responsibilities of the Department of Agrarian Services were the administration of the Paddy Lands Act which covered both the tenancy provisions and the development of farmer organizations (known as cultivation committees) set up under the Act, the supply of subsidized fertilizer, coordination of agricultural credit, administration of the guaranteed price scheme, repair and maintenance of minor irrigation works and the implementation of the crop insurance scheme.

As one of the two Deputy Commissioners in the Department, I was responsible for the first three items mentioned above. The Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) brought all the senior officials not only in the Ministry but also in the Departments coming under it into very close contact with the Minister. There was a quick turnover of Commissioners during my period of service in the Department (Mr. Fonseka was succeeded by Mr. M.S. Perera and he, in turn, by Mr. S.B. Senanayake) while, in the meantime, I gathered considerable expertise regarding the work that came under my purview, and the Minister knew this too well.

The Ministry itself had a strong team of officers under Mr. Mahadeva’s overall supervision with a separate division called the Agricultural Development Division ably led by Neil Bandaranaike assisted by an equally able and devoted team of officers, which included Gamini Iriyagolle and Gamini Seneviratne. This division was responsible for forward planning, direction, monitoring and progress control of the ADP, with responsibility for actual implementation falling on the shoulders of the different departmental arms of the Ministry which reached out from the centre not only to the districts but also to the field level. Government Agents, hand-picked by the government, provided the necessary co-ordination and leadership at district level.

In my entire 30 years of service as a public officer (1959-90) combined with the brief spells I have worked for different governments on specific engagements after retiring from the public service, I never came across a government program so well planned, so well directed and so well executed as the ADP of the Dudley Senanayake government, and a large part of the credit for this should go to Mr. M.D. Banda.

Mr. Banda did not pose as a know-all who resented different opinions being expressed on any issue. In fact, he promoted such discussion. He was always a patient listener, but once he took a decision there was no looking back. He was a true leader who had the unflinching support of those whom he had to work with, and this was one major contributory factor for the success that the ADP achieved.

The bi-annual Government Agents’ Conference which he used to preside over with commendable skill, where implementation problems were clinically examined and solutions found, was an event which we all looked forward to. He traveled virtually to every nook and corner in the country meeting with farmers and their organizations, and knew the ground situation at first hand. Not only the Minister, but the Prime Minster himself toured the country widely to see for himself, what was or was not being achieved.

The relevant Ministry officials as well as Departmental representatives from Colombo, in addition to the local and district-level officers, had to be present on these inspection tours which were often followed by progress review meetings. My thoughts go back to the numerous occasions that I had myself taken part in such visits representing my Department.

My work made it necessary for me to travel widely throughout the country addressing field level officers and even groups of Cultivation Committees in a manner that a Government Agent who was always looked upon as a disapathi hamuduruvo (a relic from the past!) was not in the habit of doing. In short, this was well beyond the provincial level experience I had been interested in obtaining before I reach the higher echelons of my service.

(Excerpted from A peep into the past, memoirs of

Eric. J. de Silva)