Opinion
How to put Sri Lanka back on track
Basic economic models followed by successive governments
By Jayampathy Molligoda
Since 1978, the successive governments have been following an aggressive open economic policy framework for Sri Lanka and there has been some progress in the much-needed infrastructure development compared to the period governed under somewhat ‘closed economic system’. Basically, their open economic policy framework is founded on the following two basic economic models (i) ‘neo-classical’, monetarists policy prescription or (ii) ‘Post-Keynesian’ Economic school of thought which builds upon John Maynard Keynes’s argument that effective demand is the key determinant of economic performance. The difference between these theories is that ‘monetarist economics believe in controlling the supply of money that flows into the economy, while Keynesian economics involves government expenditures. In contrast to the neoclassical (mainstream) approach, Keynes argued that investment is not constrained by the availability of saving, but may be constrained by the availability of credit.
Monetarists believe that government spending causes inflation. The level of the money supply, which they feel has a direct impact on inflation, must be used to control it. In contrast, Keynesian economists believe that a troubled economy continues in a downward spiral unless some intervention drives consumers to buy more goods and services. Governments should balance out the cyclical movement of the economy by spending more in downturns and less in prosperous times (thereby preventing inflation).
One can argue, the open economic policy framework in Sri Lanka has not worked for the benefit of the majority of people although the governments from time to time used to follow either the ‘neo-classical’ principles or Keynesian Economic school of thought. The result is that the overall performance of the economy has been unsatisfactory. The economists are of the view that the economic downturn has been mainly due to serious structural weaknesses in the economy during a long period of time. Sri Lanka’s relative export performance, especially during the last ten- year period has drastically declined and thus widening the trade deficit around US $ 8- 10 billion per annum. It is clear that the poor export performance relative to increased import bill, together with the external ‘current account’ deficit and large fiscal deficits in the government budgets, popularly known as the ‘twin deficits’, have been identified as the key structural weaknesses that have affected the economy for several decades with continuing adverse trends into the future. The positive feature is the export of goods during the last three years- 2021,2022 and 2023 recorded a notable increase and surpassed US $ 13 billion since 2022, however, trade deficit remains a major concern due to heavy import bill.
The government which came in to power in 2020 was not keen to have an IMF programme as they were of the opinion that such action (i) will definitely contract the economic growth, (ii) imposing high taxes and high bank interest rates will reduce the business activities, (iii) having a widely fluctuating Rupee puts enormous burden on people with high imported inflation and unbearable cost of living impact and (iv) many other adverse consequences. In short, their view was that people’s purchasing power will badly affect. From the present socio/economic situation faced by the majority of people, it can be seen that there is some truth of what they had predicted if they had adopted the IMF policy prescription.
Pros and cons of the major Policy shift since April 2022:
President GR during the latter part of his tenure was reluctantly compelled to adopt a slightly different economic strategy (i) received a positive response from IMF (in march ’22) to his letter requesting EF Facility (ii) allowed rupee to fluctuate, initially a ‘managed float’ mechanism as decided by CB on 7 March 22 (iii) dissolved the cabinet during the first week of April ‘22 and appointed a new economic team (iv) the Treasury secretary in consultation with the Governor, CB and the new Finance Minister had announced one of the most controversial decisions, i.e. ‘pre emptive’ debt default on 12th April ‘22. Since then, the CB used the term ‘Debt standstill’ instead of default (Page 187 of the CB Annual Report-2022)
Upon resignation of President GR in July ’22 then Prime minister RW was elected as President through a ‘parliamentary majority vote’ in accordance with the constitutional provisions for the remaining period of GR’s tenure which ends in October 2024. Since then, the CB Governor and his team have been advising the government on the macro- economic policies, especially the monetary policy area based on IMF programme. The CBSL has adopted a strategy of curbing inflation as a high priority by increasing the interest rate, imposing high taxation and further tightening monetary policy. President RW and his economic team have been able to manage to stabilize the macro economy to a certain extent thus eliminating the acute shortages in the market place, including petroleum products, gas etc. and also tackled the power cuts imposed by CEB during that time. However, this was achieved at the expense of unbearable burden on households due to high cost of living, job losses and closure of a number of SME businesses, micro enterprises etc. The annual report of the Institute of Policy studies (IPS) – 2022 stated that only remedy on hand was to curb inflation through a forced ‘economic recession’.
The Monetary board of CBSL on 7th March’22 decided to move away from the fixed exchange rate prevailed since September 2021, it was announced that they expect an upper limit of Rs.230/. Nevertheless, from 8th or 9th March onwards, the rupee was allowed to be floated based on market sentiments until 12th May 22 and by that time, the exchange rate of Rs.230 has gone up to Rs 377/ per US $. That’s the period, where inflation skyrocketed due to supply side ‘cost push’ imported inflation, more than the ‘demand pull’ inflation. On 12 May, CB had to rectify this market behaviour (undue volatility) by shifting its policy to a ‘managed float’ with the introduction of middle rate to facilitate orderly behaviour of the FOREX market.
So far, Sri Lanka has received a total disbursement of two tranches amounting to US$ 670 million out of the US$ 3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) approved by the IMF. The government of the day has been managing the ‘day- today’ inflows/out flows in the ‘forex account’ satisfactorily and, also managed to improve the government revenue collection through higher taxes imposed on the people. The private players who operate businesses especially the exporters and other foreign exchange earners have been able to build up some confidence on the government policy environment and started remitting the ‘FOREX income’ to the country through established banking systems. The Tourism sector is relatively performing well and ‘forex’ income to the country continues to flow in, thus relieving some burden on the people. On the negative side, there is an undue delay in the negotiations process of the ‘debt restructuring’ with foreign creditors. (Debt to GDP ratio remains a major concern) Most of the sub sectors of the economy i.e. the so called ‘production economy’ both in the agriculture and manufacturing sub-sectors are not performing well. Although, the government tax revenue has increased significantly, the budget deficit in nominal terms has not made any progress showing reductions. According to recent surveys conducted by independent research teams, majority of the people – five million households, SMEs, micro enterprises – are really suffering due to high cost of living, higher unemployment rate, further job losses, lack of purchasing power as well as deteriorating health care and educational sectors. The real issue has been that our country’s economic growth has been ‘negative’ during the last five consecutive quarters since 2021.
Solution lies in putting Sri Lanka
back to work:
As indicated in my previous articles published, the government must focus on economic (GDP) growth– meaning real economics not financial numbers (transfer payments) etc only. In simple terms, the fundamental solution lies in making one thing to happen;
GDP growth = C+I+ G+ (exports-imports), where, C- consumption and I- investment, G- government spending.
We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. During the great depression period in 1930s, the US/western economies were able to overcome the crisis successfully by practising the ‘school of thought’ recommended by John Maynard Keynes, not necessarily based on neo-classical economic principles. Since then, many governments have been adopting same and eminent economists of the calibre Professor Joseph E Stiglitz, Winner of Nobel Prize /former Chief Economist of World Bank, Thomas Piketty, French economist who wrote the landmark analysis of Western economic inequality, “Capital in the 21st Century” and others have further developed the Keynesian model. These economists urge the governments to embrace real solutions: Investing in education, science, technology and infrastructure, offering more help to the children of the poor, doing more to restore the economy to full employment etc. It is interesting to note that even the IMF, an organisation not taking radical positions, has taken up the position that inequality is associated with instability. (‘Inequality and unsustainable growth; two sides of the same coin? – IMF staff discussion note- 2011’) According to Stiglitz, monetary policy instruments for managing the macro economy have proved ineffective. Here are some home truths.
(i) The single most important thing is how to put the country back to work.
(ii) The country should be focussed on job creation. We can’t raise economic growth, create jobs by cutting spending and firing workers. The reason that businesses with access to capital are not investing/hiring people is that there is insufficient demand for their products. Weakening demand in the market place only discourages investment and hiring people.
(iii) The advantage of having underinvestment in the public and private sector for so long (nearly 10 years) is that we have many high return opportunities. Use this opportunity with low ‘long term’ bank interest rates to focus high return, labour intensive- investments in infrastructure, education, health care, technology etc.
(iv) Increased output can generate higher tax revenue to the treasury to pay low interest on the debt. Higher income to people means higher tax revenue to treasury without unnecessarily increasing the VAT rate to 18% and other tax rates.
(v) Government can change the design of the tax system and expenditure pattern. Increasing taxes at the top 5% and lowering taxes at the middle class. This will lead to more consumption spending, which is not happening now- in other words create demand in the market place.
(vi) Review Indirect taxes: Direct taxes ratio. The revenue from Indirect taxes such as VAT compared to Direct taxes, income taxes is disproportionately very high, thus creating inequality in the society and negating the cardinal principle of progressive tax system.
(vii) Sri Lanka’s debt burden will reduce and economic growth increases, meaning debt to GDP ratio will improve.
It is simply a matter of Politics:
Presidential elections are due to be held in early October ’24 and it appears that the two main opposition parties tend to gain popularity among the people, who are eligible to vote, especially the NPP and SJB. The present government and the two main opposition parties are in possession of somewhat comprehensive policy packages. However, whether they could offer a viable economic model at the elections as against the two economic models practiced by the successive governments is yet to be seen. My own view is the success depends on how to put Sri Lanka back to work.
by Dr B.J.C.Perera
MBBS(Cey), DCH(Cey), DCH(Eng), MD(Paed), MRCP(UK), FRCP(Edin),
FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(UK), FSLCPaed, FCCP, Hony FRCPCH(UK), Hony. FCGP(SL)
Specialist Consultant Paediatrician and Honorary Senior Fellow,
Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Joint Editor, Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health
In an age of unprecedented global development, technological advancements, universal connectivity, and improvements in living standards in many areas of the world, it is a very dark irony that child food poverty remains a pressing issue. UNICEF defines child food poverty as children’s inability to access and consume a nutritious and diverse diet in early childhood. Despite the planet Earth’s undisputed capacity to produce enough food to nourish everyone, millions of children still go hungry each day. We desperately need to explore the multifaceted deleterious effects of child food poverty, on physical health, cognitive development, emotional well-being, and societal impacts and then try to formulate a road map to alleviate its deleterious effects.
Every day, right across the world, millions of parents and families are struggling to provide nutritious and diverse foods that young children desperately need to reach their full potential. Growing inequities, conflict, and climate crises, combined with rising food prices, the overabundance of unhealthy foods, harmful food marketing strategies and poor child-feeding practices, are condemning millions of children to child food poverty.
In a communique dated 06th June 2024, UNICEF reports that globally, 1 in 4 children; approximately 181 million under the age of five, live in severe child food poverty, defined as consuming at most, two of eight food groups in early childhood. These children are up to 50 per cent more likely to suffer from life-threatening malnutrition. Child Food Poverty: Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood – the third issue of UNICEF’s flagship Child Nutrition Report – highlights that millions of young children are unable to access and consume the nutritious and diverse diets that are essential for their growth and development in early childhood and beyond.
It is highlighted in the report that four out of five children experiencing severe child food poverty are fed only breastmilk or just some other milk and/or a starchy staple, such as maize, rice or wheat. Less than 10 per cent of these children are fed fruits and vegetables and less than 5 per cent are fed nutrient-dense foods such as eggs, fish, poultry, or meat. These are horrendous statistics that should pull at the heartstrings of the discerning populace of this world.
The report also identifies the drivers of child food poverty. Strikingly, though 46 per cent of all cases of severe child food poverty are among poor households where income poverty is likely to be a major driver, 54 per cent live in relatively wealthier households, among whom poor food environments and feeding practices are the main drivers of food poverty in early childhood.
One of the most immediate and visible effects of child food poverty is its detrimental impact on physical health. Malnutrition, which can result from both insufficient calorie intake and lack of essential nutrients, is a prevalent consequence. Chronic undernourishment during formative years leads to stunted growth, weakened immune systems, and increased susceptibility to infections and diseases. Children who do not receive adequate nutrition are more likely to suffer from conditions such as anaemia, rickets, and developmental delays.
Moreover, the lack of proper nutrition can have long-term health consequences. Malnourished children are at a higher risk of developing chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity later in life. The paradox of child food poverty is that it can lead to both undernutrition and overnutrition, with children in food-insecure households often consuming calorie-dense but nutrient-poor foods due to economic constraints. This dietary pattern increases the risk of obesity, creating a vicious cycle of poor health outcomes.
The impacts of child food poverty extend beyond physical health, severely affecting cognitive development and educational attainment. Adequate nutrition is crucial for brain development, particularly in the early years of life. Malnutrition can impair cognitive functions such as attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Studies have consistently shown that malnourished children perform worse academically compared to their well-nourished peers. Inadequate nutrition during early childhood can lead to reduced school readiness and lower IQ scores. These children often struggle to concentrate in school, miss more days due to illness, and have lower overall academic performance. This educational disadvantage perpetuates the cycle of poverty, as lower educational attainment reduces future employment opportunities and earning potential.
The emotional and psychological effects of child food poverty are profound and are often overlooked. Food insecurity creates a constant state of stress and anxiety for both children and their families. The uncertainty of not knowing when or where the next meal will come from can lead to feelings of helplessness and despair. Children in food-insecure households are more likely to experience behavioural problems, including hyperactivity, aggression, and withdrawal. The stigma associated with poverty and hunger can further exacerbate these emotional challenges. Children who experience food poverty may feel shame and embarrassment, leading to social isolation and reduced self-esteem. This psychological toll can have lasting effects, contributing to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety in adolescence and adulthood.
Child food poverty also perpetuates cycles of poverty and inequality. Children who grow up in food-insecure households are more likely to remain in poverty as adults, continuing the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage. This cycle of poverty exacerbates social disparities, contributing to increased crime rates, reduced social cohesion, and greater reliance on social welfare programmes. The repercussions of child food poverty ripple through society, creating economic and social challenges that affect everyone. The healthcare costs associated with treating malnutrition-related illnesses and chronic diseases are substantial. Additionally, the educational deficits linked to child food poverty result in a less skilled workforce, which hampers economic growth and productivity.
Addressing child food poverty requires a multi-faceted approach that tackles both immediate needs and underlying causes. Policy interventions are crucial in ensuring that all children have access to adequate nutrition. This can include expanding social safety nets, such as food assistance programmes and school meal initiatives, as well as targeted manoeuvres to reach more vulnerable families. Ensuring that these programmes are adequately funded and effectively implemented is essential for their success.
In addition to direct food assistance, broader economic and social policies are needed to address the root causes of poverty. This includes efforts to increase household incomes through living wage policies, job training programs, and economic development initiatives. Supporting families with affordable childcare, healthcare, and housing can also alleviate some of the financial pressures that contribute to food insecurity.
Community-based initiatives play a vital role in combating child food poverty. Local food banks, community gardens, and nutrition education programmes can help provide immediate relief and promote long-term food security. Collaborative efforts between government, non-profits, and the private sector are necessary to create sustainable solutions.
Child food poverty is a profound and inescapable issue with far-reaching consequences. Its deleterious effects on physical health, cognitive development, emotional well-being, and societal stability underscore the urgent need for comprehensive action. As we strive for a more equitable and just world, addressing child food poverty must be a priority. By ensuring that all children have access to adequate nutrition, we can lay the foundation for a healthier, more prosperous future for individuals and society as a whole. The fight against child food poverty is not just a moral imperative but an investment in our collective future. Healthy, well-nourished children are more likely to grow into productive, contributing members of society. The benefits of addressing this issue extend beyond individual well-being, enhancing economic stability and social harmony. It is incumbent upon us all to recognize and act upon the understanding that every child deserves the right to adequate nutrition and the opportunity to thrive.
Despite all of these existent challenges, it is very definitely possible to end child food poverty. The world needs targeted interventions to transform food, health, and social protection systems, and also take steps to strengthen data systems to track progress in reducing child food poverty. All these manoeuvres must comprise a concerted effort towards making nutritious and diverse diets accessible and affordable to all. We need to call for child food poverty reduction to be recognized as a metric of success towards achieving global and national nutrition and development goals.
Material from UNICEF reports and AI assistance are acknowledged.
By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana
The colossal failure of not a single opinion poll predicting accurately the result of the Indian parliamentary election, the greatest exercise in democracy in the world, raises the question whether the importance of opinion polls is vastly exaggerated. During elections two types of opinion polls are conducted; one based on intentions to vote, published during or before the campaign, often being not very accurate as these are subject to many variables but exit polls, done after the voting where a sample tally of how the voters actually voted, are mostly accurate. However, of the 15 exit polls published soon after all the votes were cast in the massive Indian election, 13 vastly overpredicted the number of seats Modi’s BJP led coalition NDA would obtain, some giving a figure as high as 400, the number Modi claimed he is aiming for. The other two polls grossly underestimated predicting a hung parliament. The actual result is that NDA passed the threshold of 272 comfortably, there being no landslide. BJP by itself was not able to cross the threshold, a significant setback for an overconfident Mody! Whether this would result in less excesses on the part of Modi, like Muslim-bashing, remains to be seen. Anyway, the statement issued by BJP that they would be investigating the reasons for failure rather than blaming the process speaks very highly of the maturity of the democratic process in India.
I was intrigued by this failure of opinion polls as this differs dramatically from opinion polls in the UK. I never failed to watch ‘Election night specials’ on BBC; as the Big Ben strikes ‘ten’ (In the UK polls close at 10pm} the anchor comes out with “Exit polls predict that …” and the actual outcome is often almost as predicted. However, many a time opinion polls conducted during the campaign have got the predictions wrong. There are many explanations for this.
An opinion poll is defined as a research survey of public opinion from a particular sample, the origin of which can be traced back to the 1824 US presidential election, when two local newspapers in North Carolina and Delaware predicted the victory of Andrew Jackson but the sample was local. First national survey was done in 1916 by the magazine, Literary Digest, partly for circulation-raising, by mailing millions of postcards and counting the returns. Of course, this was not very scientific though it accurately predicted the election of Woodrow Wilson.
Since then, opinion polls have grown in extent and complexity with scientific methodology improving the outcome of predictions not only in elections but also in market research. As a result, some of these organisations have become big businesses. For instance, YouGov, an internet-based organisation co-founded by the Iraqi-born British politician Nadim Zahawi, based in London had a revenue of 258 million GBP in 2023.
In Sri Lanka, opinion polls seem to be conducted by only one organisation which, by itself, is a disadvantage, as pooled data from surveys conducted by many are more likely to reflect the true situation. Irrespective of the degree of accuracy, politicians seem to be dependent on the available data which lend explanations to the behaviour of some.
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey has been tracking the voting intentions for the likely candidates for the Presidential election. At one stage the NPP/JVP leader AKD was getting a figure over 50%. This together with some degree of international acceptance made the JVP behave as if they are already in power, leading to some incidents where their true colour was showing.
The comments made by a prominent member of the JVP who claimed that the JVP killed only the riff-raff, raised many questions, in addition to being a total insult to many innocents killed by them including my uncle. Do they have the authority to do so? Do extra-judicial killings continue to be JVP policy? Do they consider anyone who disagrees with them riff-raff? Will they kill them simply because they do not comply like one of my admired teachers, Dr Gladys Jayawardena who was considered riff-raff because she, as the Chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation, arranged to buy drugs cheaper from India? Is it not the height of hypocrisy that AKD is now boasting of his ties to India?
Another big-wig comes with the grand idea of devolving law and order to village level. As stated very strongly, in the editorial “Pledges and reality” (The Island, 20 May) is this what they intend to do: Have JVP kangaroo-courts!
Perhaps, as a result of these incidents AKD’s ratings has dropped to 39%, according to the IHP survey done in April, and Sajith Premadasa’s ratings have increased gradually to match that. Whilst they are level pegging Ranil is far behind at 13%. Is this the reason why Ranil is getting his acolytes to propagate the idea that the best for the country is to extend his tenure by a referendum? He forced the postponement of Local Governments elections by refusing to release funds but he cannot do so for the presidential election for constitutional reasons. He is now looking for loopholes. Has he considered the distinct possibility that the referendum to extend the life of the presidency and the parliament if lost, would double the expenditure?
Unfortunately, this has been an exercise in futility and it would not be surprising if the next survey shows Ranil’s chances dropping even further! Perhaps, the best option available to Ranil is to retire gracefully, taking credit for steadying the economy and saving the country from an anarchic invasion of the parliament, rather than to leave politics in disgrace by coming third in the presidential election. Unless, of course, he is convinced that opinion polls do not matter and what matters is the ballots in the box!
By Prof. Kirthi Tennakone
ktenna@yahoo.co.uk
Thoughtfulness is the quality of being conscious of issues that arise and considering action while seeking explanations. It facilitates finding solutions to problems and judging experiences.
Almost all human accomplishments are consequences of thoughtfulness.
Can you perform day-to-day work efficiently and effectively without being thoughtful? Obviously, no. Are there any major advancements attained without thought and contemplation? Not a single example!
Science and technology, art, music and literary compositions and religion stand conspicuously as products of thought.
Thought could have sinister motives and the only way to eliminate them is through thought itself. Thought could distinguish right from wrong.
Empathy, love, amusement, and expression of sorrow are reflections of thought.
Thought relieves worries by understanding or taking decisive action.
Despite the universal virtue of thoughtfulness, some advocate an idea termed mindfulness, claiming the benefits of nurturing this quality to shape mental wellbeing. The concept is defined as focusing attention to the present moment without judgment. A way of forgetting the worries and calming the mind – a form of meditation. A definition coined in the West to decouple the concept from religion. The attitude could have a temporary advantage as a method of softening negative feelings such as sorrow and anger. However, no man or woman can afford to be non-judgmental all the time. It is incompatible with indispensable thoughtfulness! What is the advantage of diverting attention to one thing without discernment during a few tens of minute’s meditation? The instructors of mindfulness meditation tell you to focus attention on trivial things. Whereas in thoughtfulness, you concentrate the mind on challenging issues. Sometimes arriving at groundbreaking scientific discoveries, solution of mathematical problems or the creation of masterpieces in engineering, art, or literature.
The concept of meditation and mindfulness originated in ancient India around 1000 BCE. Vedic ascetics believed the practice would lead to supernatural powers enabling disclosure of the truth. Failing to meet the said aspiration, notwithstanding so many stories in scripture, is discernable. Otherwise, the world would have been awakened to advancement by ancient Indians before the Greeks. The latter culture emphasized thoughtfulness!
In India, Buddha was the first to deviate from the Vedic philosophy. His teachers, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputra, were adherents of meditation. Unconvinced of their approach, Buddha concluded a thoughtful analysis of the actualities of life should be the path to realisation. However, in an environment dominated by Vedic tradition, meditation residually persisted when Buddha’s teachings transformed into a religion.
In the early 1970s, a few in the West picked up meditation and mindfulness. We Easterners, who criticize Western ideas all the time, got exalted after seeing something Eastern accepted in the Western circles. Thereafter, Easterners took up the subject more seriously, in the spirit of its definition in the West.
Today, mindfulness has become a marketable commodity – a thriving business spreading worldwide, fueled largely by advertising. There are practice centres, lessons onsite and online, and apps for purchase. Articles written by gurus of the field appear on the web.
What attracts people to mindfulness programmes? Many assume them being stressed and depressed needs to improve their mental capacity. In most instances, these are minor complaints and for understandable reasons, they do not seek mainstream medical interventions but go for exaggeratedly advertised alternatives. Mainstream medical treatments are based on rigorous science and spell out both the pros and cons of the procedure, avoiding overstatement. Whereas the alternative sector makes unsubstantiated claims about the efficacy and effectiveness of the treatment.
Advocates of mindfulness claim the benefits of their prescriptions have been proven scientifically. There are reports (mostly in open-access journals which charge a fee for publication) indicating that authors have found positive aspects of mindfulness or identified reasons correlating the efficacy of such activities. However, they rarely meet standards normally required for unequivocal acceptance. The gold standard of scientific scrutiny is the statistically significant reproducibility of claims.
If a mindfulness guru claims his prescription of meditation cures hypertension, he must record the blood pressure of participants before and after completion of the activity and show the blood pressure of a large percentage has stably dropped and repeat the experiment with different clients. He must also conduct sessions where he adopts another prescription (a placebo) under the same conditions and compares the results. This is not enough, he must request someone else to conduct sessions following his prescription, to rule out the influence of the personality of the instructor.
The laity unaware of the above rigid requirements, accede to purported claims of mindfulness proponents.
A few years ago, an article published and widely cited stated that the practice of mindfulness increases the gray matter density of the brain. A more recent study found there is no such correlation. Popular expositions on the subject do not refer to the latter report. Most mindfulness research published seems to have been conducted intending to prove the benefits of the practice. The hard science demands doing the opposite as well-experiments carried out intending to disprove the claims. You need to be skeptical until things are firmly established.
Despite many efforts diverted to disprove Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, no contradictions have been found in vain to date, strengthening the validity of the theory. Regarding mindfulness, as it stands, benefits can neither be proved nor disproved, to the gold standard of scientific scrutiny.
Some schools in foreign lands have accommodated mindfulness training programs hoping to develop the mental facility of students and Sri Lanka plans to follow. However, studies also reveal these exercises are ineffective or do more harm than good. Have we investigated this issue before imitation?
Should we force our children to focus attention on one single goal without judgment, even for a moment?
Why not allow young minds to roam wild in their deepest imagination and build castles in the air and encourage them to turn these fantasies into realities by nurturing their thoughtfulness?
Be more thoughtful than mindful?
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