{"id":117846,"date":"2014-01-03T00:19:54","date_gmt":"2014-01-02T18:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=117846"},"modified":"2014-01-08T16:13:33","modified_gmt":"2014-01-08T10:43:33","slug":"the-dark-of-sunshine-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-dark-of-sunshine-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Dark\u2019 Of Sunshine Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

For years, UNP Parliamentarian Dr Harsha De Silva<\/span><\/a> has regularly claimed that statistics pertaining to the country\u2019s economic and social wellbeing have been doctored.\u00a0 These claims have usually been accompanied by warnings of imminent economic collapse.\u00a0 The economy has not collapsed as predicted and explanations have been thin on logic. This does not mean, however, that the allegations of statistics-doctoring are figments of De Silva\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n

The recent claim by a Director attached to the Accounts Division of the Department of Census and Statistics to the effect that he was asked by the Deputy Director General to change the economic growth rate<\/span><\/a> calculated by the Division (from 5.4% to 6.0%) has shocked one and all.\u00a0 He alleges that this was a directive of the Director General.<\/p>\n

The Director General has countered that the said Director had not followed standard procedure.\u00a0 The Director, since transferred out of the Department, now faces a disciplinary inquiry.\u00a0 The Department, to be fair, has on occasion come up with less than cheerful outlooks based on data gathered.\u00a0 On the other hand, in this instance, a manifest reluctance to explain discrepancy does raise questions about integrity.\u00a0 The said Director, it must be remembered, is a veteran statistician with 30 years of experience in the Department, and if he is inept, as claimed, that itself is a slur on the institution.<\/p>\n

If indeed the Director General has insisted on the doctoring of conclusions it is a serious matter.\u00a0 Preferred outcomes can be generated by clever number-cooking, but that amounts to a breach of public trust.\u00a0 It moreover implicates top officials in both the Treasury and the Central Bank, for it is hard to believe that the head of this department would dare mislead say the Governor of the Central Bank and the Treasury Secretary.<\/p>\n

The matter could easily be cleared if methodologies are revealed and the public be asked to deliberate on which was more robust and consequently which conclusions to believe.\u00a0 The Director\u2019s statement to the investigating officer can easily be perused by experts who can then rule on his judgment.\u00a0 The same could be done for the \u2018official version\u2019, if the Department cooperates.\u00a0 As things stand, the onus is on the Department to reveal all, if it is to get rid of the shadow that has fallen on it.<\/p>\n

Upping the number from 5.4 to 6.0, when considering what they numbers represent, translates into a lot of money.\u00a0 In the current global economic climate, however, a 5.4% growth rate is nothing to be ashamed of, even if it is falls short of government prediction. \u00a0If it was say 3.2% it would be alarming and compromise the credibility of those who make such predictions.\u00a0\u00a0 If anyone gets alarmed or doesn\u2019t have the intellectual ability to explain difference between prediction and outcome, whether it be big or small, it points to a multiple ailments including arrogance, irresponsibility, lack of professionalism and absence of integrity.<\/p>\n

Sunshine stories are not the preserve of spineless public servants (and we are not passing judgment on the Department of Census and Statistics, yet).\u00a0 They are what lackeys typically regale their masters with.\u00a0 Some say that this is the inevitable curse of those who lead.\u00a0 The problem with sunshine stories is that while they are nice to read, their veracity gets tested in the matter of living, the humble but necessary acts of buying stationary for children, purchasing medicine and securing money to bury or cremate the dead.\u00a0 Budgets have to be balanced, in the final instance, at home.\u00a0 That\u2019s the bottom line of all economic theory.\u00a0 The term \u2018economy,\u2019 after all is derived from the Greek word for household, oikos.<\/i><\/p>\n

A responsible and indeed a shrewd government will understand that all things considered truth sells better and more importantly is easier to defend than a lie.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not only about growth rates.\u00a0 An analogy can be obtained from the operations conducted to rid the country of the terrorist menace.\u00a0 For years successive governments lied.\u00a0 In the last three years of the conflict, however, part of the reason why the Government secured the support of the general public was because the fact that \u2018must do things\u2019 come with \u2018probably costs\u2019 was expressly stated.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need fairy tales. We don\u2019t need the truth to be varnished.\u00a0 The truth, rather, will empower both the ruled and the ruler in the long run.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nThe \u2018Dark\u2019 Of Sunshine Stories - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-dark-of-sunshine-stories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The \u2018Dark\u2019 Of Sunshine Stories - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-dark-of-sunshine-stories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-02T18:49:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-08T10:43:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-dark-of-sunshine-stories\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-dark-of-sunshine-stories\/\",\"name\":\"The \u2018Dark\u2019 Of Sunshine Stories - 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