Ethnic minorities, even if formally recognised as full citizens in their country of residence, may still encounter various forms of discriminatory treatment and exclusion, not only of a private nature, but also in governance, especially in public service delivery. This article combines a critical study of public service provision in Sri Lanka with a fieldwork-based assessment of the current position of the plantation communities in Sri Lanka. It highlights their continuing problems in accessing public services and encountering discriminatory practices by the Sri Lankan state. There is strong evidence that the previously stateless plantation communities remain subject to various forms of discrimination in public service delivery, though they are now citizens. In addition, evidence related to austerity measures in estate management creates further difficulties for the plantation communities.
Asian Development Bank (2008) Country Gender Assessment: Sri Lanka. Manila: ADB.
2.
Asian Development Bank (2013) Empowerment and Public Service Delivery in Developing Asia and the Pacific: Policy Report. Manila: ADB.
3.
BandaraA.M.N. (2009) Citizens’ Right to Efficient, Effective and Responsive Governance: An Examination of the Role of Public Administration in the Modern State and an Overview of the Public Administration in Sri Lanka. Colombo: National Democratic Institute.
4.
BassD. (2012) Everyday Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: Up-country Tamil Identity Politics. London: Routledge.
Dell’OlioF. (2002) ‘Supranational Undertakings and the Determination of Social Rights’, Journal of European Public Policy, 9(2): 292–310.
7.
Government of Sri Lanka (2016) National Plan of Action for the Social Development of the Plantation Community in Sri Lanka. Colombo: Ministry of Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development.
8.
HaiderZ. (2018) ‘Biharis in Bangladesh and Their Restricted Access to Citizenship Rights’, South Asia Research, 38(S): 25S–42S.
9.
HamiduzzamanM.De BellisA.AbigailW.KalaitzidisE. (2018) ‘Elderly Women in Rural Bangladesh: Healthcare Access and Ageing Trends’, South Asia Research, 38(2): 113–29.
10.
HaqueM.S. (1999) ‘Relationship between Citizenship and Public Administration: A Reconfiguration’, International Review of Administrative Sciences, 65(3): 309–25.
11.
HettigeS.T. (2003) ‘Local Government in the Central Province: Ambagamuwa Pradeshiya Sabha’. In DSIUC/SAI (Ed.), Local Governance and Conflict Management in Sri Lanka. Report (pp. 44–64). Colombo and Heidelberg: Development Studies Institute, University of Colombo and South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg.
12.
HoutzagerP.P.AcharyaA.K. (2011) ‘Associations, Active Citizenship, and the Quality of Democracy in Brazil and Mexico’, Theory and Society, 40(1): 1–36.
13.
IsinE.F.TurnerB.S. (Eds) (2002) Handbook of Citizenship Studies. London: SAGE Publications.
14.
IsinE.F.TurnerB.S. (2007) ‘Investigating Citizenship: An Agenda for Citizenship Studies’, Citizenship Studies, 11(1): 5–17.
JanoskiT.GranB. (2002) ‘Political Citizenship: Foundations of Rights’. In IsinE.F.TurnerB.S. (Eds), Handbook of Citizenship Studies (pp. 13–52). London: SAGE Publications.
17.
JonesM.GaventaJ. (2002) Concepts of Citizenship. London: Institute of Development Studies.
18.
KabeerN. (2011) ‘Citizenship Narratives in the Face of Bad Governance: The Voices of the Working Poor in Bangladesh’, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 38(2): 325–53.
19.
ListerM. (2005) ‘“Marshall-ing” Social and Political Citizenship: Towards a Unified Conception of Citizenship’, Government and Opposition, 40(4): 471–91.
20.
MandakiniP. (2005) ‘The Quest for Inclusion: Nomadic Communities and Citizenship Questions in Rajasthan’. In KabeerNaila (Ed.), Inclusive Citizenship: Meanings and Expressions (pp. 85–98). London: Zed Books.
21.
MarshallT.H. (1950) Citizenship and Social Class and Other Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
22.
MendelsohnO.ViczianyM. (1998) The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
23.
NadesanS. (1993) A History of the Up-Country Tamil People. Hatton: Nandalala.
24.
PietschJ.ClarkM. (2014) ‘Citizenship Rights in Malaysia: The Experience of Social and Institutional Discrimination among Ethnic Minorities’, Citizenship Studies, 18(3–4): 303–14.
25.
RamanayakeS. S.WijetungaC. S. (2018) ‘Sri Lanka’s Labour Migration Trends, Remittances and Economic Growth’, South Asia Research, 38(S): 61S–81S.
26.
RamasamyR. (2018) Citizenship Rights, Public Service Delivery and the Quality of Government: The Case of the Plantation Community in Sri Lanka. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Bergen, Bergen.
27.
ReviB. (2014) ‘T.H. Marshall and His Critics: Reappraising “Social Citizenship” in the Twenty-First Century’, Citizenship Studies, 18(3–4): 452–64.
28.
RothsteinB.StolleD. (2003) ‘Impartiality and the Welfare State: An Institutional Approach’. In HoogheMarcStolleD. (Eds), Generating Social Capital: Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective (pp. 191–210). London: Palgrave.
29.
RothsteinB.TeorellJ. (2008) ‘What Is Quality of Government: Theory of Impartial Government Institutions’, Governance, 21(2): 165–90.
30.
ShahA. (2008) ‘Demanding to Be Served: Holding Governments to Account for Improved Access’. In De JongJ.RizviG. (Eds), The State of Access: Success and Failure of Democracies to Create Equal Opportunities (pp. 207–28). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
31.
ShunshukeK. (2012) Governance over Estate Tamils in the Tea Plantation Community of the Upcountry Sri Lanka. PhD thesis, Yokohama National University, International Graduate School of Social Sciences, Yokohama.
32.
The World Bank (2004) World Development Report. Making Services Work for Poor People. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
33.
The World Bank (2016) Poverty and Welfare in Sri Lanka: Recent Progress and Remaining Challenges. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
34.
TurnerB.S. (1999) The Sociology of Citizenship. London: SAGE Publications.
35.
UllahM.S. (2017) ‘Empowerment, Asymmetrical Power Relations and Impacts of Information Technology Rural Bangladesh’, South Asia Research, 37(3): 315–34.
36.
UyangodaJ. (2012) ‘Minority Rights, Political Inclusion and State Reform: The Case of Upcountry Tamil Community in Sri Lanka’. In UyangodaJayadevade MelNeloufer (Eds), Reframing Democracy: Perspectives on the Cultures of Inclusion and Exclusion in Contemporary Sri Lanka (pp. 90–151). Colombo: Social Scientists Association.
37.
UyangodaJ. (2013) ‘Re-politicising Local Governments for Politics of Transformation: An Argument from Sri Lanka’. In StokkeK.TornquistO. (Eds), Democratization in the Global South: The Importance of Transformative Politics (pp. 227–301). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
38.
VijayapalanY. (2014) Endless Inequality. The Rights of the Plantation Tamils in Sri Lanka. London: Mayan Vije Limited.
39.
VijesandiranS. (2011) Exclusion of Estate Residential Communities from the Pradeshiya Sabhas’ Service Delivery System. Unpublished Report. Kandy: Institute of Social Development.
40.
VijesandiranS.RamasamyR. (2013) Local Government Service Delivery and the Plantation Community: A Human Rights Perspective. Hatton: Estate Community Solidarity.
