Incomplete Citizenship of the Plantation Community: Access to Governance Institutions and
Public Service Delivery
cent emphatically expressed their distrust in the civil service,
attitudes of public officials, indifferent treatments and corrupt
practices.
An interesting finding of this study is that differential and illtreatment by public institutions continues to have an impact not
only on victims or the person who experienced it, but also among
their children, families and community members. Put differently,
the one who experiences ill-treatment and discrimination by
public officials shares their feelings and experiences with their
family members and society, which makes the others too feel
that public institutions are not trustworthy, reliable, helpful,
benevolent, or honest.
The low level of trust in public institutions appears to be
linked with lack of multicultural organisational practices, lack
of inclusive citizenship, and poor diversity management. This
pattern clearly shows the causal connection among institutional
variables and dependent variables. In Sri Lanka, since most of the
public officials hold similar values, beliefs, and social backgrounds;
they are likely to represent the interests of a particular section
of the society by limiting the access to other sections. This
increases the likelihood of a sense of feeling among minorities
that public institutions are not trustworthy and less likely to
pursue universalism in service provision, while prone to serve the
interests of certain segments of society.
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