A senior official close to the matter told The Sunday Morning that President and Minister of Finance Ranil Wickremesinghe was keen on making the first payment to beneficiaries by the end of this month or early August.

However when contacted, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe told The Sunday Morning that no cash transfer date had been finalised, but stressed that the Government was steadfast on moving forward with the new programme.

“No date has been finalised for the first cash transfer to beneficiaries. The Government will discuss the matter with the Government Agents (GAs) who are tasked with processing the appeals and objections and come to a decision next week. We cannot delay the roll-out of Aswesuma,” Minister Semasinghe explained.

Semasinghe said that the Government had not anticipated that there would be nearly 840,000 appeals for the programme.

According to him, the total number of appeals to be considered for the Aswesuma programme has soared to more than 830,000, as of close of business on Friday (7), with 11,300 objection petitions filed regarding those who have been listed. The last day for objections to be filed will be tomorrow (10), the Minister said.

“The Government Agents will have to review the appeals and objections, and display the final list of beneficiaries for the process to continue. We want this done as soon as possible. We are looking at the possibility of providing the first tranche to those whom no objections have been filed against. We will meet the GAs next week and then decide on the date. We have to start giving the payments at least by next month,” Semasinghe opined.

Last week, Semasinghe told Parliament that payments made to the elderly, kidney patients, and those with disabilities would continue to be honoured. According to the Presidential Secretariat, 3.7 million applications for the Aswesuma Social Security Benefit Programme have been received.

The Sri Lanka Podujna Peramuna (SLPP) and other parties have alleged that the Aswesuma programme has “left behind” many who were part of the Samurdhi scheme, which the Government has termed wasteful, pointing out that many in the previous programme were not in need of support and were not below the poverty line.

It is learnt that the distribution of funding will include 400,000 transitional beneficiaries who will receive Rs. 2,500 per month until 31 December. Another 400,000 vulnerable beneficiaries are to receive Rs. 5,000 per month until 31 March 2024 and 800,000 ‘poor’ beneficiaries will receive Rs. 8,500 per month. Those who have been categorised as ‘extremely poor beneficiaries’ are to receive Rs. 15,000 per month for three years beginning this month.

Asiri Fernando

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