Cometh the hour, cometh the man - A tribute to Deshamanya Cyril Herath
The eighth of September this year is the fifth death anniversary of Deshamanya Cyril Herath, former IGP, Defence Secretary, and Chairman of National Savings Bank (NSB); and also a distinguished alumnus of the prestigious University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. On this occasion, we think we have a duty to tell the people of Sri Lanka, the present employees of NSB, and the banking fraternity about some important but unknown facts relating to his unique and monumental contribution to NSB.
The first few years of Mr. Herath’s chairmanship of NSB was marked by turbulence, uncertainty, and challenges in the banking and financial sector. The World Bank’s panacea among others, was privatisation.
In their report to the government in the late nineties, the World Bank made certain observations about NSB, which appeared to be unpalatable and below the belt. We at the NSB at that time felt hurt, embarrassed, insulted, humiliated, and thunderstruck by this report: For obvious reasons we don’t want to quote it verbatim and would only paraphrase the two fundamental observations/recommendations they made: There is no justification for continuing the operations of NSB. NSB branches should be sold by auction (they are the very words used) to private and foreign banks; the state owned banks should not be allowed to bid. (Readers may not believe that such a recommendation was ever made but we can vouch for that.) These recommendations curiously but not surprisingly coincided with the withdrawal of the interest subsidy paid by the Treasury annually to NSB since its inception in 1972. Throughout the years, it was this annual Treasury subsidy that ensured the continued viability of the bank; and this concession had been granted to NSB by statute to enable it to effectively compete with other financial institutions.
There appeared to be no doubt that its withdrawal without reasonable notice was a strategic move intended to be the death knell of NSB because the authorities may have believed that the bank could and would never survive without the subsidy. They probably thought that when the bank crashed, that would pave the way for implementing their recommendations.
Refused to bow to wishes of WB
ty . It is an ingratitude if people particularly the employees and Board members forget the unique contribution Mr. Herath made to NSB. They should be grateful to President Chandrika Kumaratunga too for appointing the right man at the right time as chairman, NSB.
If Sri Lanka had another hundred leaders like Mr. Herath in top positions and among politicians, our country would be among the most developed countries of the world.
On a personal note we think that we were very fortunate, privileged and blessed to work under an exemplary leader of the calibre of Mr. Herath.
His beloved wife, Mrs. Rani Herath who passed away within one year of his death was a gracious and virtuous lady who made it possible for Mr. Herath to fully concentrate on coping with challenges of his job. She graced all events and ceremonies of the bank, mixed with the staff who adored her. Her presence created a great deal of goodwill among staff that was a significant factor which made it possible for NSB to move to greater heights.
Beloved Sir, on behalf of all the employees of NSB, past and present, we wish you and Mrs. Herath peace and serenity in your sojourn in samsara. N.B.S.B. Balalle and Eastman Narangoda
Former General Managers of NSB