By: Staff Writer
January 19, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s JVP-led National People’s Power (NPP) government inherited a society already under immense strain when Cyclone Ditwah struck in late 2025. Fresh nationally representative data reveal that even before the disaster, millions of households were living on the edge financially insecure, nutritionally vulnerable, and deeply indebted. The cyclone and subsequent flooding merely exposed fault lines that had widened during years of economic collapse and weak social protection.
The BRIGHT Integrated Household Survey, conducted between November 2024 and March 2025 across all districts, paints a stark picture. While 18 percent of households were officially poor by income standards, multidimensional poverty affected 27 percent, reflecting overlapping disadvantages in health, education, housing, and living conditions. One-third of households reported moderate or severe food insecurity, while over 40 percent were already trapped in debt, limiting their ability to absorb shocks.
When Cyclone Ditwah displaced more than 200,000 people and affected nearly two million citizens, the NPP government faced its first large-scale humanitarian test. Emergency relief operations—dry rations, temporary shelters, and cash assistance were rolled out rapidly, building on an expanded welfare infrastructure. The government’s ability to mobilize existing social protection mechanisms, particularly Aswesuma, proved crucial.
Aswesuma, which replaced the Samurdhi program, had already expanded coverage to nearly 29 percent of the population before the cyclone, reaching almost half of the poorest households. Post-disaster, the NPP administration fast-tracked beneficiary revalidation in affected districts, enabling quicker disbursement of relief payments. This marked a significant improvement over earlier disaster responses, which were often delayed by bureaucratic inefficiencies and political favoritism.
However, the data underscore persistent inequalities. Estate-sector communities were already facing extreme deprivation, with two-thirds classified as multidimensionally poor and more than half food insecure. Flood damage to estate housing and access roads further isolated these populations, raising questions about whether relief efforts adequately addressed long-standing structural neglect rather than just immediate losses.
Urban vulnerability has also become impossible to ignore. Food insecurity in cities has risen more than fivefold since 2019, dismantling the myth that urban households are inherently resilient. The NPP government’s post-cyclone response acknowledged this shift by extending relief beyond traditional rural poverty pockets, particularly to low-income urban settlements.
While immediate relief measures have stabilized conditions for many affected families, the survey data suggest recovery will be uneven without deeper reforms. Debt relief, nutrition-focused interventions, and climate-resilient infrastructure investment remain critical. The cyclone response has demonstrated improved state capacity but also highlighted how much further the NPP government must go to turn emergency action into long-term resilience.
