Desamanya K.H.J. Wijayadasa Renowned Public Servant and Dedicated Servant of the Buddha Sasana

Desamanya K.H.J. Wijayadsa, a great son of mother Lanka passed away after rendering long and fruitful service to the country and its people. His unique service in the Ceylon Civil Service started from Radio Ceylon, and continued as Government Agent Polonnaruwa, Kegalle and Secretary of several ministries, ultimately reaching the peak of his career as Secretary to the Prime Minister and Secretary to two Presidents R. Premadasa and D.B. Wijetunga. He was also the Chairman of several government corporations. He achieved remarkable fame as an honest, efficient and far seeing public servant.

My association with Mr. Wijayadasa goes back to the 1977, when he was Chairman of the Land Reform Commission and I was an Internal Auditor of that institution. He appreciated impartial and factual audit reports and called them bold reports. He directed certain reports to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation. Some of those cases ended in court with the assistance of the Attorney General. He trusted the Audit to streamline his administration and keep it free of irregularities and corruption. He did not bend before politicians and did not allow anything unfair. Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike, the former President worked as a young Director of the Land Reform Commission under this iconic civil servant during that period.

Wherever he worked he pushed for broad reforms. If we scrutinize his record of past periods in the public service we can see what he did. When he was Director of Broadcasting he selected some prominent artists purely on their qualifications and merits and later they became legends in their field. He was the first Chairman of the Central Environment Authority which is still implementing his far reaching policies.

He could rise to any difficult occasion with his sharp mind. The best example was the assassination of President Premadasa. As Secretary to the President he had to cope a most difficult situation which he handled very competently with a widely acknowledged commonsense approach to quickly get the government machinery back on track.

The late Atamasthanadipathy, Ven. Pallegama Sirinivasa Nayake Thero was fortunate to get his service as the first Chairman of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Ranveta Fund in 2001. Later this Fund was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 2006 as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Development Fund. The Atamasthanadipathy was the patron of the fund with 20 prominent Buddhists appointed as members by the prime minister according to the provision of the Act. Mr. Wijayadasa’s main task as the Chairman of he Fund was to construct the second Ranveta around the sacred Bodhi tree.

With his long experience in the public service he was able to enlist a task force for all his work with prominent persons from several fields. Being the former Chairman of the State Engineering Corporation, he could get the help of SEC for the construction of the Ranveta. After completing the second Ranveta within one year other major works he was entrusted with were the construction of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Prakaraya and build a large “Sannipatha Salawa” which could accommodate nearly 10,000 devotees. He also relocated the “Sathsathi Mandira” in new buildings.

His task force included late Eng. Mr. Gemunu Silva, Eng. Rohana de Silva, Prof. P.B. Mandawela, late granite industrialist Mr. H.C.L. Wickremasinghe, botanist Mr. Bhatiya Sumithraarachchi and many others. Also associated from the beginning were late Desamanya Nissanka Wijewardena, Mr. Themiya Hurulle and Deshabandu Tilak de Zoysa. He always sought advice from former Atmasthanadipathy, the late Ven. Pallegama Sirinivasa Nayake Thero, the present Atamasthanadipathy Ven. Pallegam Hemarathana Nayake Thero and Lankaramadipathy Relpanawe Dhammajothi Thero on preservation and construction of religious sites.

They had high regard for Mr. Wijayadasa as the pioneer of beautifying the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi premises. He received assistance and donations from the People’s Bank, Bank of Ceylon, public institutions, philanthropists as well as from the general public for the preservation and construction of religious sites. He received all that support for rejuvenation of the Sri Maha Bodhi as was universally trusted for his honesty and efficiency.

In his long career, his commitment to service was inspired by his devoted wife, Ms. Nimalka Wijayadasa. Our thanks go to this lady for the great care she took of him throughout his life and particularly during his last illness.

Mr. Wijayadasa was not only an eminent civil servant. He was an extraordinarily fine human being who was of great help and support to all those he associated with and many more. May his Sansaric journey be brief and may he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana.

Sarath Wijesinghe,
Administrative Secretary,
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Development Fund