Social Sciences

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Livelihood Diversification and Well-Being of Indigenous People in Sri Lanka: With Special Reference to Vadda Community
(Reviewing International Encounters 2018,The Research Center for Social Sciences (RCSS), University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Wanninayake, S.M.
Sri Lankan indigenous peoples called Vaddas who own distinct socioeconomic and cultural traits, is one of the primitive communities of the world. This community with distinctive cultural values, prehistoric traditions and own survival strategies, at present, encounter to extinction due to the various influences. Even though Vaddas could be found around the island about three centuries ago, at present they can be seen only in specific scattered places associate with semi-evergreen dry monsoon forest habitat and newly established colonies. The primary livelihood means of ancient Vaddas were hunting and gathering, harvesting non-timber forest products and sometimes shifting cultivation and fishing etc. However, at present these practises have diverted to agriculture and related activities mostly practised by non-Vaddas in rural villages due to the modern development activities, resettlements, and wildlife and cultural conservation policies and interacting with advanced communities. Meanwhile, the Vaddas who have been resettled in newly established colonies have to adopt agricultural and related practices involuntarily. These changes of livelihood practices have significantly affected their lifestyle as well as their well-being. The aim of the present study is to examine the livelihood diversification and the state of well-being of newly resettled Vaddas in Sri Lanka. The question that attempted to address is ‘how livelihood diversification has affected on the well-being of resettled Vadda community?’ This study was mainly based on mixed method approach. Given the qualitative as well as quantitative nature of the study, both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were employed. In-depth interviews, group discussions, key informant interviews, focused group discussions and observation methods were supplemented by the questionnaire based survey. The study area was the Henanigala which is newly established colony under the Mahaweli Development Project in 1980s Based on the empirical evidences the study concludes that the livelihood practices of resettled vaddas have significantly changed and the relative position of Vaddas in terms of well-being is fairly decent. At least they have come out from the forest. However, in absolute term still they are in the misery. They have just moved from worst to bad. Lack of cultivable lands for the second generation, discrimination, marginalization, lack of accessibility to basic needs including health and education are the areas that should be addressed urgently. Establishing an appropriate institutional and legal framework for Vadda community is essential to address these issues effectively
Growth Inclusiveness and Well-being in India: An Analysis in terms of Relative Deprivation
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2013) Jayanta, Sen
Last two decades have witnessed remarkable economic growth in many Asian countries. Almost all the countries including India proceeded towards market orientation and thereby achieved high momentum in economic growth. India, though achieved a high acceleration in economic growth, distributional issues have received much attention to the researchers and policy makers. Much sharper focus has been given on inclusive growth which ensures broad based participation by all the section of the economy. In this paper we are to examine to what extent the observed growth process in India is broad based and inclusive. Growth inclusiveness is examined in terms of the state of relative deprivation. Inter-personal expenditure gaps for different consumption items are used to assess the level of in-built differences in wellbeing among the people. Rural–urban differentials are made explicitly.
Comparison of Current status of well-being of Samurdhi beneficiaries with respect to their business activities
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Gunawardena, U.; Ariyawardana, A.
Although more than half a decade after gaining independence, poverty remains to be a major problem prevailing in Sri Lanka. The Samurdhi is the largest poverty alleviation programme implemented in the country. Main aim of it is to promote self-reliance by developing income generating self-employment. This study was designed to compare the current status of well-being of Samurdhi beneficiaries with respect to their business activities using the asset poverty dimension approach. A purposive sample of 120 respondents including 60 Samurdhi beneficiaries who are involved in micro-enterprises and 60 Samurdhi beneficiaries who are not involved were selected for the study. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to construct the household asset related wealth index to compare the two groups. Data was gathered using a structured questionnaire. The findings of the research revealed that, majority of the micro-enterprise owners were females. Many of them have had education up to G.C.E. (O/L) and majority have had the access to credit. Females were more involved in food processing and animal husbandry, while males were involved mainly in trade and service related activities. Lack of skills and support from the family members were the main reasons for others to not involve in micro-enterprises. The study further constructed a wealth index which explained 52.7 percent of the total variance and ranged between -2.522 to 2.031. Eighty percent of micro-enterprise owned households fall within the highest well-being group. A t test confirms that the difference of means when compared between groups is statistically significant. Based on the above results, it could be concluded that micro-enterprise owners are relatively better off than the people who were not involved in micro-enterprises. Thus, promoting microenterprises can be regarded as a better way to reduce poverty among low income earners in Sri Lanka.

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