- 1.5 Mn families to receive monthly installment under Aswesuma 1st phase
The main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) said that they are to discuss the issues related to the recently introduced ‘Aswesuma’ welfare scheme and its existing shortcomings with the representatives from the World Bank (WB).
Speaking to the media yesterday (16), SJB Parliamentarian Niroshan Perera said that they will take steps to inform the representatives of the World Bank today (17) about the injustices that have happened to the public due to the failure of the Aswesuma welfare scheme and the failure of the Government to overcome those shortcomings. He alleged that the resignation of the Chairman of the Welfare Benefits Board B. Wijayaratne was due to the failure of the Government to address the issues in this Aswesuma programme and the political agenda behind it. “The public continuously told the Government that this project is not successful. Not only that, the Ministry of Finance received a large number of appeals in this regard. Now, this Government is not listening to those demands and continuing the project as before. A large number of people have started protesting on the streets. The Government is silent about this. Representatives of the World Bank will meet us tomorrow (17). We hope to complain to them about this,” he said.
On Tuesday (15), Wijayaratne who was tasked with handling the controversial social security programme ‘Aswesuma’, announced his resignation in the wake of continuing accusations regarding the project introduced by the Government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to replace the Samurdhi.
Meanwhile, the Welfare Benefits Board said that the payment of the first installment of the Aswesuma welfare benefit for selected families would commence yesterday. The Board said that 1.5 million (Mn) families whose issues have been resolved will receive the monthly installment under the first phase. The Board added that the funds will be released to the respective State banks by the Ministry.