The Role of Communication in the Development of the Rural Sector (A Study Based on the Wayamba Development Bank and its Communication Strategies)

Abstract

During past few decades all Governments have attempted to develop the rural sector. Still there are many disparities in the rural development. Wayamba Development bank is one of the major government contributions that has been launched in order to develop the rural sector. The vision statement of the Bank is to use the resources of a particular village for its o\vn development. And the Mission statement is granting small and medium scale loan facilities to develop their economy. Participation development is used here as a strategy. So far none of the government approaches have succeeded even though certain poverty alleviation projects such as Janasavi and Samurdhi have been introduced into the rural society. This paper identifies the attitudes, norms and aspirations of the rural people and the relevant communication methods for stimulating a positive response. In order to attain this purpose Wayamba Development Bank which functions in Gampaha, Kurunegala, and Puttlam districts has implemented monetary policies and strategies to get close to the rural sector. For this study, literature related to development communication and the strategies and policies implemented by the Bank have been thoroughly studied. Besides a field research has also used as a method of data collection. What is disdo~ed from this research is that traditional communication directly influences the rural Clients. But, the communication method should be effective within the framework of traditional communication. Therefore we find that a combination of traditional communication and modern communication works best. This can be described as the Modern participatory communication.