President tells researchers to identify right development model for SL

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday requested the heads of research organisations to find ways and means to uplift a small country like Sri Lanka with a comparatively small population and an economy.

“Since the current global economy is based on knowledge, ours should be developed centred around our workforce that can be easily trained,” the President observed.

President Rajapaksa made these observations at a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday with chairmen and director board members of State sector research entities. This is the fourth of the series of meetings organised to enlighten heads of Government institutes on the ‘Saubagyaye Dekma’ Policy Statement. 

Heads of Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, National Science Foundation, Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies and Institute of Post-Harvest Technology were among the participants.

“There is a visible breakdown in our political culture. The people of this country elected a person who was not a politician as their president with the hope of rectifying this. This is the challenge before me. The State sector has an enormous responsibility in fulfilling aspirations of the people. If the public institutes function in an efficient manner, we will not have any issue in carrying out our duties,” President Rajapaksa said.

The President emphasised that conducting comprehensive research was crucial for economic development and said that his main objective was to ensure a higher standard of living for the lower segment of society. He also said that the program to recruit 100,000 unskilled persons from underprivileged families was designed to achieve this objective.

“We are an agricultural country, but our farmers have always been poor. Second and third generations choose the agricultural field if it is the only option for survival. Modern technology should be introduced to this field to attract the new generation. India has successfully achieved results by doing so. Researchers should introduce new technologies to agriculture in order to free underprivileged people from poverty,” President Rajapaksa emphasised.

Explaining the role and responsibilities of the research institutes, the President said it was imperative for researchers to accurately identify the people’s needs.

“Research needs to be done to introduce new techniques to the agricultural sector as well as to the fisheries sector. Even though we have many problems about the use of chemical fertilisers, we still haven’t been able to shift to use organic fertiliser. When considering the fisheries sector, research can be used to identify areas where fish are abundant.”

The President pointed out that the results of research should be socialised as a product.

Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, ministry secretaries and other senior officials were also present at this meeting.