Regional Development and the Role of Urban Centres in North Central Sri Lanka

Abstract

Regional development in Sri Lanka is the result of the two concurrent processes namely, a development process and a political process. The development process involved initially, infrastructure development, irrigation development and land settlement associated with river basin development including the multipurpose Accelerated Mahaweli Development Program in less developed areas. The political process involved devolution aimed at greater power sharing by sub national governments. The main visible power sharing by Act No 42 of 1987, enabled the devolution of power to a system of Provincial Councils The analysis is based on mainly secondary data obtained from literature and regional centres which are established in the North Central Province in Sri Lanka. The objective of the study is to identify the main constrains to development of the region. The uneven development among Provinces in the periphery can be illustrated by using a number of indicators such as the differential contribution of Provinces to the National GDP per capita income and the allocation of government expenditure. In addition, some of the physical, social and economic factors are affected to both adverse and beneficial ways to development of the region.