Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Upali Pannilage has dismissed media reports claiming that Aswesuma benefits provided to nearly 1.4 million people have been suspended.
The Minister clarified that only 1,206,000 individuals currently receive Aswesuma benefits, making claims that benefits provided to 1.4 million people have been discontinued factually incorrect.
Speaking at an awareness programme for Samurdhi officers in Anuradhapura yesterday (29), Minister Pannilage said the ongoing review of Aswesuma beneficiaries has not resulted in a reduction in the number of recipients.
He explained that the list of 991,000 beneficiaries selected under the first phase of the review has already been published. As approximately 989,000 individuals currently receive benefits under this phase, the revised list indicates an increase of around 2,000 beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, approximately 215,000 beneficiaries are covered under the second phase, which is scheduled to be reviewed next year.
The Minister assured that benefits would continue without changes to the existing number of recipients under the second phase until the review is completed.
He further revealed that approximately 740,000 additional beneficiaries under the first phase are yet to be reviewed.
According to Minister Pannilage, the overall number of Aswesuma beneficiaries could increase rather than decrease following the completion of the review process.
The Minister urged the public not to be misled by what he described as false and misleading reports regarding the suspension of Aswesuma benefits.
The remarks were made during an awareness programme on the Department of Samurdhi Development’s national initiative, “New Strength for Community Empowerment”, attended by Samurdhi officers from Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts. (Newswire)