Bureaucracy is a system used by large organizations, both public and private, to administer a large number of people working together. A key part of bureaucracy is establishing a clear hierarchy and defining each person's role. The job of bureaucrats is to implement policies created by elected officials. Sri Lanka inherited a highly centralized bureaucratic system from British colonial rule that proved ill-suited to development needs and has undergone decentralization efforts over time. Decentralization and power sharing has been debated since independence in 1948 both in response to ethnic tensions and the need for participatory development.

1. SSU3208- ModernOrganizations and Social Movements
A Bureaucracy is a way of administratively organizing a large number of people. Who need to work
together.Organizts in the public and private sector in changing universities and Gv rely on bureaucracy to
function.Eventhough bureaucracy sometimes seems inefficient or wasteful. Setting up a bureaucracy help
ensure that thousands of people work together in compatible ways of defining everyone’s roles within a
hierarchy.
The job of a bureaucratic is to implement government policy to take the laws and decisions made by
elected officials and put them in to practice. One useful approach to understanding what bureaucratic do
is to examine the actions of different governmental agencies.
Sri Lanka like most third world countries which emerged from colonialism inherited as part of her
colonial legacy. A highly centralized practical and administrative system the imperatives of development
at the independence in 1948.Brought this system under severe strain, successive Gv’s therefor deplored
these centralizing trends and accepted decentralization and popular participation as part of their policies.
Decentralization has received added imputes and its focus has undergone change during the last decade.
Since Sri Lanka has been in the theories of an ethnic conflict which escalated in to violence and the
demand for a separate state backed by organized military and terrorism.
In relation to Sri Lanka it should be noted that the issue of decentralization and devolution of power has
been the subject of debate and experimentation. Since independence in 1948 not exclusively in response
to the ethnic factor. But also in recognition of the need for participatory development and as a reaction
against a highly centralized colonial bureaucratic structure. Its applicability was considered not only
concerning the geographic areas of ethnic concentration but in relation to the entire country.
Nevertheless the ethnic factor too has had an impact on attempts at decentralizations especially since
independence.
The most post colonial third world states, Sri Lanka inherited a highly centralized bureaucratic structure
designed by the British mainly for political integration and maintenance of law and order.
Within this deconcentraded administrative structure local government was introduced by the British in the
late 19th
and early 20th
century. But severely limited in scope of activity and in financial resources they
become mere field units of the department of local Gv, where the real agent for development functions
were agencies of department’s life agricultural, rural development, agrarian services irrigation etc.
Which functioned in each area the bureaucratic is the administrative system governing any large
institiution.The determination of unnecessary bureaucratic is a key concept in modern managerial theory
and has been an issue in some political campaign.
Sri Lanka conflict profile has been ravaged by a long running and bloody civil war due to ethnic tension
between the Buddhist Sinhalese majority and the Hindu Tamil miniority.The conflict cost the lives of an
estimated 80,000 to 100,000 citizens and hundreds of thousands of civilians were displaced.

2. The violent ethnic conflict that has ravaged Sri Lanka for a decade resulted in an agreement between the
Gv’s of Sri Lanka and India.
Social and economic development during the early colonial period under Portuguese and then the Dutch
commercialization of agriculture, the registration of title to land, registration of births and deths,
proselyzation contributed towards a freezing of ethnic boundaries.
Sri Lankan society is an ethno-religious mosaic and within the ethnic groups, there are clear religious
divisions as well. To a certain extent ethnicity and religion also have a regional basis, which is a
significant reason why the Tamil militancy has a strong geographical dimension.
By the time Sri Lanka achived independence in 1948 from the uk, therewere expectations that the country
would become a model democracy. Universal adult franchise had been introduced in the 1931
Democratic institutions and traditions had been in place and political violence was not an issue. Moreover
by the 1950s literacy in Sri Lanka was on the rise and there were no serious indicators of economic or
social catastrophes of the years to come. However even before independence there were clear indications
of ethnic politics that were to emerge later.
In addition to the barriers imposed by the continued use of the English language as the official language
after independence, the emerging nationalist forces perceived that Sri Lankan Tamils had access to a
disproportionate share of power as a consequence of educational opportunities in the colonial period and
were also disproportionally represented in the civil administration, Moever considerable mercantile
interests were also controlled by non –Sinhalese groups. These fears and concerns were basis for the
politics of language that was to emerge.
Since the early 1980s many have stressed the role school texts play in shaping ethnic relations in the
country. Ethnic politics have also been played out in the process of texts have been removed in the
process of revision and re-writing. Ironically however sometimes this has gone to the opposite extreme. In
some texts all references to ethnicity and related issues have been removed.
The issue of ownership over and access to land has also been a sonsistenent area in which ethnic politics
in Sri Lanka have manifested and have sustained themselves over the years. As noted one of the
peculiarities in the demographic patterns in Sri Lanka is the relative concentration of certain ethnic groups
in certain geographical regions.