The main objective of this paper is to critically examine the GOPEC's evaluation of the peasant colonization segment of the GOV program, "the core of the problem that this committee was called upon to report". This examination is intended to ascertain whether the benefit-cost assessment of the GOPEC was, in fact, correctly executed, and to see whether the main policy conclusion of the GOPEC with regard to peasant colonization - that "policy makers take a long, hard look at the advisability of diverting resources to what is essentially a social welfare function in an economy where the greatest need is to maximize production" - follows from the GOPEC's analysis. The second objective is to determine whether benefit-cost analysis was adequate for providing guidelines for the formulation of national policies in regard to the strategy of agricultural development within Ceylon; more specifically, for the rejection of peasant colonization as a strategy of agricultural development, and to suggest a more appropriate framework for the evaluation of ongoing peasant colonization settlement projects in Ceylon.