A 15-member delegation from Sri Lanka comprising members of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), an Official from the Peace Secretariat, and a senior Official from the Indian High Commission visited India from the 25th October – 30th October 2006 at the invitation of the Government of India, with a view to gaining an understanding of the Indian Constitution, Centre-State relations, and the working of grass-roots level self governing institutions such as the Panchayati Raj.

Tasked by the President of Sri Lanka His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, with finding a satisfactory basis for a lasting political solution to the national question, the APRC delegates first visited New Delhi where they were briefed on the Indian Constitution by Shri K.D. Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice of India, Centre-State Relations by Shri A.K. Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs of India, Fiscal Decentralization in India by Shri M. Govinda Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, and the working of the Panchayati Raj in India by Shri Raghunandan, Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

APRC delegates also had the opportunity to meet with Hon. Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Panchayati Raj and Youth Affairs & Sports, who hosted them to dinner at his residence on October 27. On the previous evening the delegates were the guests at a dinner hosted by His Excellency Romesh Jayasinghe, High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in India.

The delegation toured both Karnataka and Kerala where they had the chance to observe the working of the ‘Grama Raja’ concept at the village level and benefits that flowed to the people through the de-centralization of administration with the formation of a third tier of government. The delegates visited the Abdul Nazir Sab State Institute of Rural Development in Mysore where they witnessed Satellite based communication and training programmes for Gram Panchayat members. The delegates also visited the Kerala Institute of Local Administration in Thrissur, which imparts training to local government functionaries and promotes de-centralized governance aimed at poverty reduction and women empowerment.

The Sri Lankan delegation consisted of 2 Ministers and other members of the constituent political parties of the APRC i.e. Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Lanka Sama Samasamaja Party (LSSP), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) , Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), National Unity Alliance (NUA), Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC), Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), Communist Party (CP), All Ceylon Muslim Congress (ACMC), Eelam Peoples’ Democratic Party (EPDP), National Congress (NC), Up-Country Peoples’ Front (UCPF).

This is a presentation made by Shri Raghunandan, Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, to members of the APRC delegation, on October 27, 2006