August 28, Colombo (LNW): The Finance Ministry has announced that over 1,850,000 families in Sri Lanka qualify for benefits under the Aswesuma welfare benefit programme. State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe, highlighted that beneficiaries of the Aswesuma programme now have the option to voluntarily contribute a portion of their received funds to government welfare projects.
Minister Semasinghe emphasized that beneficiaries can allocate part of their monthly benefits to specific government welfare accounts if they choose to do so. This provision has been communicated to all banks by Welfare Benefits Board Chairman Jayantha Wijerathna. Previously, instructions were given to banks to ensure that Aswesuma benefits were not used for any other payments.
The new directive allows beneficiaries to support government welfare initiatives, provided these contributions align with the objectives of the Aswesuma programme and do not contradict its primary purpose. This move aims to give beneficiaries more flexibility in how they use their welfare funds, while also enabling them to contribute to broader welfare efforts if they wish.
