In conversation with Nihal Pathirage of Rangiri Holdings
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis. Although the country is on the mend, the lower we go down the food chain, the worse its effects are felt. As communities recover from Covid-19 and previously, the Easter bombings, there are many who have struggled immensely to pick themselves off the ground.
While the authorities are taking efforts to help rebuild, we have also seen community leaders step up to strengthen their own communities. One such instance can be seen in the efforts of Rangiri Holdings Founder Nihal Pathirage.
The cluster of entities under Rangiri Holdings includes Rangiri Aqua outbound training grounds and its islandwide branches, the Institute for Research and Expedition of Social Attitudes and Cognitive Tendencies which funds the Ibbankatuwa Reservoir, and several other entities which engage in national youth athlete development and the reformation of children suffering from learning and social disabilities.
Pathirage shared that prior to Covid, he had been part of the apparel industry. However, he soon realised that his business and those who relied on it for job security were bound to suffer if he did not diversify during that time. “During Covid, I tried many ways to ensure that the 250-300 people under me did not suffer. A majority of them have been with me for nearly 15 years – they are like my family. I gave company shares to my employees during this time in the hopes of mitigating the impacts and to ensure that they continue to benefit from this company which they have been a part of building,” he said.
After the pandemic
“My main concern is to ensure sustainable development of my community,” Pathirage said. In order to ensure this, Pathirage has set up several programmes, with one such programme being a 15-year long-running course where children in and about Ibbankatuwa are given school supplies at the beginning of their school year. Another is a welfare centre set up in Kandy under Rangiri Holdings, where children who are promising young athletes are able to seek the resources they need to become the next best national athletes in the island.
Pathirage noted that his motivation for setting up these initiatives was primarily based on his own vision of humanism and affection towards his communities. “I am someone who grew up in this community and as I was fortunate enough to receive certain things such as a good education and other opportunities, I believe in striving for bigger and better change in local communities, from the bottom up, for local communities to be empowered and have stability in their economy and their education.”
He further shared that he firmly believed that Sri Lanka possessed a wealth of human resources and an abundance of wonderful talents that needed to be tapped into and given the proper training, systematic know-how, and opportunities through a community-based facility and not through political means.
Stating that Rangiri Holdings was for the purpose of national interest, Pathirage shared that he had set up the Rangiri Management Institute of Technology (RMIT Campus) which operated from Makola and Dambulla. He stated that the primary reason for establishing this learning centre was to improve language skills of students at grassroots level.
“There is a great disparity when it comes to literacy levels in Sri Lanka. While many do tend to complete education at the Year 5 level and some even study up to the Ordinary Level, their English language knowledge is not sufficient and therefore many students entering the workforce face challenges. I wanted to make sure that the students from my community will not have to suffer this handicap, so I have set up this learning centre. There are four diploma levels for students to learn and improve their English knowledge,” he said.
Another element that Rangiri Aqua focuses on is facilitating the acquisition of skills for foreign employment. “When it comes to foreign employment and skilled labour, there are job opportunities for caregivers and several job categories have been made available for South Asians, especially from countries like Japan. We will be forming a focused vocational training centre under the Rangiri academy for professional studies to create skilled labourers who will be able to confidently apply for these job opportunities abroad,” Pathirage added.
National training arm of Sri Lanka
Pathirage shared that his objective was to develop Rangiri Aqua to become the national training arm of Sri Lanka. To facilitate this, he has set up several programmes, including the aforementioned vocational training centres, along with the Rangiri Aqua Edutainment Academy, which is situated bordering the Ibbankatuwa reservoir, for which he has acquired a land extension of 15 acres complete with camping accommodation for 150 people to engage in outbound training, team-building, and corporate leadership training programmes.
Pathirage stated that he had worked with numerous trainers from around the island and that he had employed former members of the Sri Lanka Special Forces to overlook these training sessions.
“I hired Special Forces officers to carry out this training primarily because they are extremely well-trained and are absolute professionals with a wealth of experience and knowledge when it comes to team-building, leadership, and confidence-building. Moreover, after the war, many of these officers and their families were left to fend for themselves and it was disheartening to see such a wealth of training and knowledge go to waste,” Pathirage said.
“I have been able to gather highly-trained Special Forces officers who are now able to share their knowledge through a carefully curated leadership and confidence-building programme, which since its inception has trained many Government officers and numerous other corporates successfully,” he added.
Pathirage shared that while he hoped to continue in his efforts, he also hoped to inspire others to do the same by empowering their communities, since when we help our communities to grow, we will see the true potential of our nation and finally put it to use.