Eradication of poverty in Sri Lanka by 2020 and beyond: Special reference to the manifestos of three main presidential candidates

Abstract

To achieve a better future for all humankind Sustainable goals came to action in 2015. These goals set out by the United Nations as a part of UN resolution 70/1 to be achieved by 2030. All the 196 states in the UN will be looking forward to achieving these tasks solely with the cooperation of the UNDP program. The very first goal under this program was “No poverty” which means eradication of poverty from the world. Measuring poverty can be known as a multidimensional thing but in 2010 the UN set forth several criteria to measure poverty. According to the Poverty Indicators report published by the Department of Census and Statistics in 2016 Poverty in Sri Lanka measured as Poverty status is determined by comparing the monthly real per capita expenditure to the official poverty line. If the per capita monthly real expenditure is less than the value of the official poverty line, then that individual is considered to be in poverty. According to that report, poverty headcount in Sri Lanka in 2016 was 4.1% of the total population which is a good rate when comparing to the world. The highest percent poor people lived in Uva, North and North Eastern provinces according to the Department of Census. The main research question of this paper will be to identify how our political leaders have understood this economic context and what are the measures taken out by them to eradicate poverty by 2030. To achieve aforesaid objectives qualitative approach has been adopted and secondary data is the main type of data obtained from various such as manifestos and the paper publications. Manifestos of three main candidates of the Presidential election 2019 which was Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake used to critically analyze what are the measures that taken out by parties and leaders to address this issue. Based on the findings of the study a SWOT analysis discusses strengths to identify and improve, weaknesses to be rectified, opportunities on how Sri Lanka can eradicate poverty by the next decade. The strength includes: location of the country, Natural resources and every candidate has identified how to improve the lifestyle by improving the SME sector. Weaknesses include the big debt trap we already in and improving welfare for poor people will lead the country into a more and riskier situation. Opportunities include to re-established good agriculture program and make a self-sufficient country.