My oldest memory of Amaradasa Gunawardena goes back to the days when we were students reading the magazine “Sanskruthi” that carried important articles on Sinhalese Literature. One of its editors was Gunawardena. The oldest personal acquaintance with Gunawardena commenced with an official engagement when I was appointed to Polonnaruwa District as the Additional Government Agent in February 1975.

The gentleman occupying the Government Agent’s Office in the Kachcheri was Gunawardena- a simple, soft-spoken, friendly personality, not appearing elderly for his designation. As for me, the formalities of a newcomer disappeared soon, leading over to a brotherly relationship. I leisurely found this behaviour was a common narrative in him extended to the clergy, politicians, subordinates, and the public. His brotherly love extended to our families in abundance, ably navigated by Mallika, his loving wife, and children.   

  
Polonnaruwa, a district of irrigated colonization schemes in the main, with a comparatively lesser number of Purana villages, opened vast opportunities for Gunawardena to focus on peoples’ needs, based on his cumulative experience as an Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services and Land Development Officer. He carved his way to be an excellent Government Agent. 

He wished to be explorative in development issues and concurrently to be people-centric. Not many are aware and even less written that he was one of the district officials who thought of a Maduru Oya Scheme. He explored the old dam sites, ruined canal systems with parliamentarian Leelartana Wijesinghe and General Sepala Attygalle, Colonel Prasanna Dahanayaka et al. He organized the Thamankaduva Milk Producers’ Cooperative Society.     

         This grassroots involvement was observed in other cultural and religious activities too, which was best calibrated in the organization of the Poson Perahara. 

He organised a group “Ape Kattiya” with those who served in Polonnaruwa that later did development projects in the district. While in Polonnaruwa he was into broadcasting Sinhala radio programmes, which focussed on socio-cultural interests.  

From Polonnaruwa, he joined the Ministry of Plan Implementation and was the Director in charge of the Job Bank Scheme. He was later appointed as the Secretary to the State Ministry of Power and Energy and Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Australia. 

His attachment to his university life was reflected in the organization of the Past Residents of Ramanathan Hall of the University of Peradeniya annually. 

Upon retirement Gunawardena did yeoman service to the Sri Lankan society by leading several voluntary organizations. He was the President of the Sri Lanka Council for the Blind, the Sri Lanka China  Society, and the Sri Lanka Belgium Association. Former President Maithripala Sirisena honoured Gunawardena by conferring him with the National Honour of ‘Deshamanya’ in 2017 for his services to the nation.   

He departed from us a year back, but proving the truth of “Roopam jeerathi machchaanam, Naama goththam najeerathi.” Even in his absence, his name will ever glow in society for the service he has rendered as a public officer and a humanitarian. May he attain Nibbana. 
(Austin Fernando)