Up Country Tamils: Charting a New Future in Sri Lanka Divisions (GNDs) in the plantation sector as well as in the rest of the country. In the case of the Nuwara Eliya district, the total population is 711,644, of which Tamils account for 410,200 (58.64%) and Sinhalas and Muslims for 282,053 (39.63%) and 17,652 (2.48%) respectively. There are however, only five DSDs to serve such a large population. The national policy for creating DSDs suggests that one DSD could be formed for some 30,000–40,000 people. However, in Nuwara Eliya, the practice is significantly different; i.e. out of five DSDs of the district, the Nuwara Eliya and Ambagamuwa DSDs are Tamil-majority. The former consists of 210,968 persons and the latter 203,076 persons. It is possible to compare this situation with other districts of the country to identify and understand the institutional inequality or partiality in service delivery. For example, Matale district has 11 DSDs, representing a total population of 482,229, while Trincomalee district has 11 DSDs to serve a total population of 378,182. An important factor to note here is that certain DSDs in the Trincomalee district are comprised of fewer than 12,000 people, such as Morawewa (7,946), Padavi Siripura (11,858) and Gomarankadawala (7,339), to name a few. Furthermore, the Lahugala DSD in Ampara district is comprised of 8,900 persons. The above-mentioned DSDs have been established in Sinhalamajority areas. This evidence proves the institutional inequality in public service delivery in areas where the Plantation Community constitutes the numerical majority. Various forms of patron-clientelism affects neutrality, impartiality, and fairness in treating minorities in general and the Plantation Community in particular. This emerges based 40