Decentralization and Regional Development: The Case of Sri Lanka

The post-independence political history of Sri Lanka from 1948 could be viewed as a continuance of centralized policies and bureaucratic systems established by the colonial rulers. However, these systems have had to undergo a process of adjustments to the exigency of self- rule. Especially, the process of change since the early 1970¿s is actively continuing in different forms of social, political, economic and administrative reforms and adjustments. Furthermore, each step in this process paid greater attention on decentralization. Thus, one of the notable trends in Sri Lanka, particularly over the last two decades in the field of political, institutional and administrative systems and structures, has been a dominant move towards decentralization of power. Such moves had the objective of promoting decentralization towards sub-national levels and local participation in planning and development interventions. Thus, the study intended to explore the impact of decentralization on regional development with special reference to the Provincial Council system of Sri Lanka.