Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe said that welfare beneficiaries can be rest assured that there will be no delays in implementing the Aswesuma welfare benefits programme owing to the resignation of the Welfare Benefits Board (WBB) Chairman.

Taking to Twitter, he dismissed certain media reports raising concerns about such delays.

According to him, the former WBB Chairman B. Wijayaratne has informed President Ranil Wickremesinghe that he stepped down from the position due to personal reasons.

Following Wijayaratne’s resignation on Tuesday (15), the Head of State recommended the name of the retired special grade officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS), Jayantha Wijeratne to the Constitutional Council to fill the vacant position.

Semasinghe emphasised that the resignation of Wijayaratne does not hinder the commencement of proceedings for the verification of the objections and appeals or making payments to beneficiaries who have fulfilled the requirements, such as opening bank accounts. He requested the eligible candidates to complete the bank-related requirements as early as possible.