Fostering Economic Empowerment in Eelam
Ruben Nagesparan Chandrakumar, BS
The homeland of Tamil Eelam has remained extremely impoverished for decades. With limited educational and economic opportunities, many rely on subsistence farming to provide for their families. In countries like the United States and Canada, even the poorest families are immeasurably wealthier than the average Tamil family in Eelam and Sri Lanka. The opportunities provided to everyone, even to the least capable and least motivated individuals, are a direct product of the strength of the national economy. In Tamil Eelam and Sri Lanka, the economy is dire. With options limited to subsistence farming, government employment, or leaving the country to work abroad, most Tamils are condemned, purely by circumstance, to a life of poverty. This is evidenced by the low average annual income per household in the Northern and Eastern provinces, which is less than $4,000 USD.
The fastest way to change this is to build Tamil-owned businesses in Eelam and Sri Lanka. One successful business can transform an entire community, providing jobs, wealth, and dignity that cannot simply be handed out. By building and growing local businesses, the life of the average Tamil will improve dramatically. Their quality of and access to healthcare, education, clean food and water, modern technology like Wi-Fi, smartphones, and computers, transportation, hygienic products and services, and shelter will all improve. These are just a few of the innumerable benefits that the average Tamil will experience when locally-owned businesses succeed. Not simply the wealth, but also the services and opportunities that correspond to that wealth, are distributed across the entire population in a more just and efficient manner than in any other system.
However, business alone is not sufficient. A non-corrupt government and non-profit organizations certainly have essential roles to play in a nation. However, neither the government nor the non-profits are the engines driving the production of material wealth that directly improves the everyday life of the average citizen. That responsibility falls under the domain of business: an area that Tamils in Sri Lanka urgently need to improve.