- Welfare assistance in monetary form to continue
The Government is aiming to lift all current Aswesuma beneficiaries out of poverty by 2030, with welfare assistance continuing to be provided to those who remain in need even after the programme is eventually phased out, Deputy Social Security and Community Empowerment Minister Wasantha Piyathissa said.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, he said the Government plans to discontinue the Aswesuma welfare programme entirely by 2030. However, he noted that ending the programme would not necessarily mean that poverty no longer exists.
"The Aswesuma programme may come to an end, there could still be poor people even after that. That is why we are implementing empowerment programmes for them," he said.
He added that the Government's objective is to ensure that all existing Aswesuma beneficiaries are lifted out of poverty by 2030 through a combination of welfare assistance and empowerment initiatives. "Our intention is to free all these people from poverty by 2030. To achieve that objective, we are launching different types of empowerment initiatives in addition to the provision of monetary allowances."
The Welfare Benefits Board is currently preparing to implement the second phase of the Aswesuma programme, under which payments will be limited to households classified as poor and extremely poor. Introduced in 2023, the programme initially covered nearly 1.6 million beneficiaries across four categories, with payments to the transitional and vulnerable categories having already been phased out.