Accountability in Local Government Institutions of Sri Lanka: A Study of the Hali-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha

Abstract

Accountability was a basic argument of establishing the local government system in Sri Lanka with some adjustments in time to time. Currently, accountability does not mean that just being showing the accounts to the hierarchical institutions and the local government institutions have to be accountable in a pluralistic way. In other words, there are dimensions of accountability namely; Political accountability, Legal accountability, Administrative accountability, Professional accountability and Social accountability. All these dimensions of accountability are questionable in local government institutions of Sri Lanka. This study has questioned that why and how these dimensions of accountability are in problematic by giving special reference to the Hali-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha which is being challenged by a lot of criticisms due to inability of maintaining the proper accountability. This Hali-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha is located in Badulla District, which belongs to Uva Province. The legal background of all establishments of the Pradeshiya Sabhas is same but the way of functioning is not equal at all. Accountability issues in Pradeshiya Sabhas may arise not only because of the laws and regulations, structure, selection process of members, human and physical resources, etc., but also because of institutional culture, population matters, ethnic diversity and environmental factors. Especially, the institutional culture always depends on the characteristics such as workers‘ attitudes, environmental surroundings, ethnic diversity, etc. The Hali-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha area has been selected as the study area since it includes all these ethnic and cultural diversities and therefore the people‘s needs are also complex in nature. The Hali- Ela Pradeshiya Sabha has to be proactive to provide the services to the people by ensuring the accountability. The study conducted based on the qualitative data. In data collection, content analysis and case study method have been used. The use of case study method to analyze the critical information related to the practical scenario of the accountability of this institution was helpful. The descriptive analysis method has been used in the data analysis. The findings show that all forms of accountabilities have been challenged due to inadequate communication among political representatives, administrators and people in the Pradeshiya Sabha area. Not only due to political and administrative conflicts for the Pradeshiya Sabha functions, there cannot be seen collective actions towards enhancing the accountability while providing a quality service delivery to the public.