• 56,547 in poor category, 28,608 in extremely poor category 
• 16,800+ don’t receive benefits due to not having a bank account
• N’Eliya records highest number without bank accounts

Over 85,000 individuals categorised as poor and extremely poor under the Aswesuma welfare benefits scheme stand to lose their Aswesuma benefits due to the failure to update their information on time for the annual review. 

Speaking to the media yesterday (18) at the Sri Lanka Foundation in Colombo, the Welfare Benefits Board Chairman Nimal Kotawalagedara said the process to update information on Aswesuma beneficiaries started on 20 November 2025, but so far, 56,547 beneficiaries in the poor category and 28,608 in extremely poor category have failed to complete the update process. 

He asserted that a new deadline has been set for tomorrow (20), and the people have the option to either update their information online or manually by handing over the duly completed form to the nearest District Secretariat (DS) Division. 

“This is hugely problematic. Unless people update their information on time, they will not be considered for the next benefit cycle,” Kotawalagedara said adding, “We have informed the DS Divisions, made the Grama Niladharis aware of the urgency, and also given special permission for private communications centres to facilitate the online updating service. We have already received a considerable number of updates through these centres. A total of 2.7 million have already registered. But, for whatever reason, a certain number of beneficiaries have still not done the updating process.”

He pointed out that this could be a result of the beneficiaries being affected by the cyclone Ditwah or that they may be from extremely rural regions. “We are determined to somehow include this number. We are not going to abandon them. No matter how much we try to send the message to the public, there still seems to be a communication gap,” Kotawalagedara stressed. 

Meanwhile, The Daily Morning also learns that 16,800 qualified applicants do not receive benefits because they have not opened a bank account. A total of 8,900 among them fall under the poor category while 4,400 are in the extremely poor category. The highest number of people without bank accounts was recorded from the Nuwara Eliya District (4,655), and Norwood recorded the highest number (1,000) among the DS Divisions. 

Speaking during the same event yesterday, a Social Safeguard Specialist at the Welfare Board, Upul Brahmanage pointed out that one of the reasons why people do not open a bank account is that they do not have a National Identity Card (NIC). “You can’t open a bank account if you don’t have an NIC. Either they don’t have an NIC or they’re not interested in receiving the welfare benefit,” he added. 

IT Specialist at the Welfare Board, Prabhath Ariyaratne, meanwhile explained: “Once we select the beneficiaries and publish that list, they have to open a bank account in order to receive the funds. The relevant DS Division issues a letter to the beneficiary and they need to go to the bank and open a specific Aswesuma account as a zero-balance account at selected State banks. 

“We have reduced the number from an earlier 100,000 plus without bank accounts, but there are those who still don’t have an account or some even don’t know that they have qualified to receive the benefit. We have sent letters, SMSs, but the message has not reached them. 

“During the first phase, about 400,000 Samurdhi beneficiaries didn’t even apply for Aswesuma, and that prompted the authorities to start a second phase. Once identified as a beneficiary, a person will receive the benefits for a period of 12 months, and then information is updated to ascertain whether the person qualifies to receive benefits for another 12-month cycle. If a person opens an account in March, for example, they can receive the benefits with arrears”.