Mr. Lalith Weeratunga |
Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga said that Nenasalas, a brainchild of President Mahinda Rajapaksa under the 'e-Sri Lanka Development initiative, operated by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) under its Information Infrastructure Programme, were largely responsible for Sri Lanka reaching a high level in ICT literacy.
Explaining the deep insight with which the Nenasala programme had been conceived by President Mahinda Rajapaksa Mr. Weeratunga said: "The Nenasala programme both in concept and in the methodology adopted in its implementation gives an insight into the down-to-earth and practical nature of the vision of the President. While many foreign agencies were recommending the setting up of virtual internet cafes that would cater only to a few of the rich elite class, the President opted for Nenasalas that would serve all people, especially the rural folk island-wide.
The practicality of the President's concept is further manifested in the mechanism adopted under his direction for the management of these Nenasalas. In a wise move to use the existing social structures the sustainability and continuity of the Nenasalas are ensured by having them primarily set up in collaboration with the religious and cultural centres like the Temples, Kovils, Mosques or Churches in the areas concerned. Thus while the most novel advancement in technology is introduced into the most remote village, it is deeply rooted in the culture and social structure of the area. The leaders a in the community are involved in the promotion and activity of the Nenasalas. Thus the President has adopted a wonderful theory in social mobilisation by roping in the existing leadership and resources in the Nenasala programme".
Calling to mind the setting up of the first Nenasala and the launch of the project with an air of nostalgia the President's Secretary recounted: "The Nenasala project was initiated in January 2005 with the very first Nenasala at the Kirivehara Temple in Katharagama inaugurated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was then the Prime Minister. The project spanned its way into diversified models and has contributed towards the development of information infrastructure in the country, contributing towards filling up the gap of the digital divide".
Referring to the significant role the current 590- odd Nenasalas island-wide (out of the 1000-strong network as per the plan) had played in empowering the people the Secretary said: "The Nenasalas" or the Wisdom Outlets which are Sri Lanka's unique brand of telecentres, "have been largely instrumental in making Sri Lanka, especially the rural Sri Lanka, reach high levels in IT literacy which is a bedrock of people's empowerment".
Spelling this out statistically the secretary said: "In April 2004 the computer literacy of Sri Lanka was even less than 1 per cent. Thanks to President Mahinda Rajapaksa's concept, in four to five years Sri Lanka's computer literacy reached the 25 per cent mark". While paying a tribute to the Nenasala operators for their hard work in making the President's concept a reality the President's secretary said: "The Nenasala personnel have worked very hard; some of them have made the progress of the work of Nenasalas their passion, vision, mission and calling in life. For some of them it has become their forte. They have taken up well the President's challenge of contributing their share in making Sri Lanka become 50 per cent computer literate by the end of 2010". "Thanks to the Nenasalas, the use of IT for rural empowerment is fast becoming a reality", Mr. Weeratunga asserted.
Paying his attention to two recent internationally-oriented ICT events in Sri Lanka Mr. Weeratunga said: "Two recent important landmark events occurred in the use of ICT for the country's development. They are the setting up the Asia Pacific Telecentre Network Secretariat in Sri Lanka and the launching of the Telecentre.org academy of Sri Lanka on the seventh of this month. The hosting of the Asia Pacific Telecentre Network Secretariat by Sri Lanka will benefit Sri Lanka and enable it to perform a pivotal role in making the world community benefit from innovation and knowledge-sharing among Telecentre organisations in the Asia and the Pacific region". Commenting of the benefits that would accrued to Sri Lanka from the formation of the of the Telecentre.org Academy of Sri Lanka Mr. Weeratunga said: "The Telecentre.organising Academy of Sri Lanka would enhance the capacity building of Nenasala and Telecentre operators in Sri Lanka".
Delving into how not only Nenasala personnel but also anyone who is serving the public could do much towards making people's lives more comfortable Mr. Weeratunga emphasised the value of thinking creatively and figuring out new ways for providing service smartly to the public.
Mr.Weeratunga went on to say: "In public service there are numerous instances where a little creative thinking could lead to simple and small projects that will carry out the tasks faster, at less cost, in a more pleasant manner and in a less cumbersome way both for the government employee as well as the public then will be the case bereft of this little creativity".
Elaborating on the value of constant vigilance with an eye and mind for innovation for improvement by way of saving time, money and lessening of difficulties for the public Mr. Weeratunga said: "When I was appointed to the Department of Immigration and Emigration at Galle Buck Road, the very environment that prevailed there at that time with layers of dust on the walls of the building made getting any work done there very repulsive to the public who in those days had to wait for about three months to get their passports. We formed a team and started work. We decided on what documents to ask for from the passport applicants. Thanks to the minds of that team with an alertness for innovations we reduced the three-month period drastically".
Drawing his attention on the impact of the 'e-Sri Lanka' initiative in general the Secretary went on to say: "The huge progress in computer literacy is due to the successful implementation of the 'e-Sri Lanka' initiative of the Government of Sri Lanka. People see tangible fruits of this ICT success story in their day-to-day transactions at Government institutions. People's needs that involved much time-consuming procedures years ago for completion are fulfilled within a 'miraculously' short time. For example, now people are able to obtain authenticated copies of Death, Marriage or Birth Certificates, essential documents in Sri Lanka, in as short a time as 10 minutes, thanks to the Re-engineering Government Programme under the e-Sri Lanka Development initiative. Getting Government information by telephoning 1919 from the Centre which works from 8.00 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, the facility to pay vehicular traffic fine by mobile phone under the Lanka Gate Project, Saving on telephone charges for Government institutions through the Lanka Gate Network which links 325 Government organizations speak for the great strides Sri Lanka has made in the use of ICT to make people's lives more comfortable", Mr. Weeratunga added.
Elaborating on the value of the mere knowledge as to where to get information on how to get about simple things like obtaining a passport Mr. Weeratuna narrated a true incident showing how people suffer due to the lack of knowing where to get this kind of information: "When I was an Assistant Controller at the Department of Immigration and Emigration a person came to see me. His clothes were soiled with dust. I was shocked by his story: He said: 'All I wanted to know was how to get a passport. I thought I must come to this office in Colombo just to know this. To get this information I started my journey from my home in Moneragala yesterday. When I came to Colombo, the time was such that the office would have been closed. I had no place to spend the night. So last night I slept at the bus halt. I had no extra clothes. I slept at the bus halt with the same clothes on. I have now come to find out "WHAT I SHOULD DO TO GET A PASSPORT' ". There is no doubt that incidents like this would have moved noble hearts like that of Mr. Weeratunga in making public service more comfortable to the people that it is now in place and is ever in the process of being made more and more people-friendly especially by the use of ICT.
In a disarming gesture of humility the Chairman of the ICT Committee of the world body responsible for the Asia and Pacific region said that Sri Lanka had been elected to the World Regional Committee due to Sri Lanka's progress in ICT. While no one denies that Sri Lanka's unanimous election to chair of the prestigious Committee out of several high-calibre countries in the field of computer technology including China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Japan, Nepal, and the Republic of Korea signalled the view in UNESCAP of Sri Lanka's considerable progress in ICT development, it goes without saying that the professional qualities of public service of which Mr. Weeratunga is an example to be emulated had a role to play in his being selected to the prestigious position as Chairman of UN-ESCAP's ICT Committee. |
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