Poverty
A Tragedy of Errors – Heading for a Food Crisis
A food shortage brewing for several weeks, coupled with a stagnant economy and indecision, has pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of a crippling crisis. It is ironic that Sri Lanka, which…
The Great Divide
There are photographs being shared on social media of charitable visits that are being made to elders’ homes. Some of the visitors are not wearing masks, an omission constituting criminal negligence during…
Child Trafficking: Responding to a Complex Phenomenon
The recent incidents of sexual and economic exploitation of children have sparked many protests and a public outcry targeting the failure of the State to ensure justice to children and their families.…
Hidden and Discounted: Child Labour in Tea and Tourism
In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka is a success story when it comes to tackling child labour. The widely prevalent forms of child labour in the 1990s and before, such as…
Repayment and Relief: Addressing microfinance debt in Sri Lanka
Nadaraja Devakrishnan stumbled on the gravity of the microfinance debt issue purely by chance. He was attempting to begin community gardening in a small village, to respond to rising cases of CKDu…
“Our Request – Rs. 1000” | On the Wage Negotiations For Estate Workers
For five days, estate workers have been holding a hunger strike in front of the Fort railway station, asking for a Rs. 1000 basic wage. Currently, the workers receive Rs. 500 as…
A Culture of Dependency
The following article is a translation of a story by our sister site examining the exploitative practises of microfinance companies based in the North and East, which are causing fresh trauma for…
Conflict-Affected Women in Sri Lanka – Still Waiting For Answers
There has been a marked increase in female-headed households in the North and East of the country as a consequence of the war in Sri Lanka concluded in 2009. Women in Sri…
The Story of a Man who Built Five Cinemas: Combating the Culture of Poverty
The story of Veerappa Alagoo and his family is also that of one the most disadvantaged and discriminated against among the major communities of this island. Alagoo’s story relates to a minor…
Vijay Nagaraj: Contributions to public discourse in many guises
Vijay Nagaraj, who passed away in a tragic car accident in August, was someone I interacted with for around six years. We didn’t meet regularly, yet when we did, we carried on…
The Budget and the Inequality Crisis
Gintota is a grim warning. The abyss is still with us. We remain a country where a private dispute can be interpreted as a religious issue and used to ignite a violent…
Unpaid Care Work: The Overlooked Barrier in Women’s Economic Empowerment
Photograph via video produced by Institute of Development Studies There is broad consensus that women’s empowerment underpins the success of the new 2030 Agenda for Development (also known as the Sustainable Development Goals).…
Modi’s visit to the central hills brings welcome attention to a marginalised community
Last Friday (12 May) Sri Lankans living in the central hills lined its narrow streets to catch a glimpse of that Indian tea-seller who rose to become the Prime Minister of India.…
Three scenarios for Sri Lanka’s future: Lecture by Razeen Sally
An expected economic take-off has not happened two years into the change of government says Prof. Razeen Sally, chairman of the Institute of Policy studies in Sri Lanka. Delivering a public lecture…
