In a striking address that challenged long-standing perceptions about political corruption in Sri Lanka, Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Minister K. D. Lal Kantha declared that theft and fraud in the political sphere have been eradicated and that it is now the public service that has become the breeding ground for corruption.
Speaking at the Ministry of Agriculture on the 22nd during the inauguration of 500 new Highland franchised outlets, Minister Lal Kantha offered a scathing critique of what he described as the collapse of dignity in the public sector, blaming decades of political mismanagement and bureaucratic failure.
“The economic model we followed in the past has not only shattered the economy but also completely eroded the dignity of our public institutions,” he said. “Today, the real thieves are not in Parliament. They are in the administrative offices, in the ministries, and at the grassroots of public service.”
The Minister’s remarks come at a time when the government is attempting to implement a wide-ranging political and institutional transformation. He emphasized that this transformation is already in motion and credited the current administration with taking steps to restore public trust and correct systemic failures.
Reflecting on a bygone era, Lal Kantha lamented that public servants were once revered in villages across the country. “In the past, when you said someone was a government officer, people would welcome them with pride. Today, they ask whether he’s a thief or a bureaucratic bully,” he said, adding that ministry secretaries are now instantly associated with past scandals like the infamous fertilizer scam.
The Minister went on to reveal that institutions such as Highland and the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) had been on the brink of being sold off. He acknowledged that a partnership agreement still exists with Indian dairy giant Amul, making it difficult to operate the two institutions independently without risking diplomatic fallout. However, he said that the government is working toward a solution that would allow the institutions to operate without compromising Sri Lankan interests or sovereignty.
“We are navigating a liberalized relationship with India,” he explained. “But we’re doing it in a way that protects our institutions from being sacrificed to foreign interests.”
Lal Kantha also addressed the pressures placed on local agriculture by foreign investment demands. He noted that the NLDB had recently received a request for 500 acres of land for a durian plantation intended for export to Malaysia. While welcoming investment, he warned against allowing export-focused cultivation to dominate arable land at the cost of domestic food security. “If we hand over every piece of land for foreign currency-earning crops, what land will we have left to feed our own people?” he asked.
Returning to his roots, Lal Kantha said he was still searching for a bottle of the once-popular dairy drink Kalkiri, proudly produced by the state. “Back then, we had no toxicity scandals tied to our public sector products,” he noted, contrasting the current wave of health concerns related to some private sector food and beverage items.
The Minister’s speech painted a sobering picture of a country still grappling with the aftershocks of decades-long economic mismanagement and institutional decay. But it also served as a call to action a challenge to rebuild public service integrity and protect the nation’s vital state-run institutions from exploitation, both foreign and domestic.
