July 10, Colombo (LNW): The Welfare Benefits Board has announced that the second phase of the “Aswesuma” welfare benefit programme, initiated under the directives of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, will conduct its information census from July 15 to 30.
Following the first phase, which saw over 1.8 million people qualify, an additional 450,924 applications have been received for the second phase. The process of identifying eligible individuals for welfare payments is expected to be completed within this month.
In the first phase, a total of 1,854,000 individuals qualified for the “Aswesuma” programme, with the government allocating Rs. 58.5 billion. The Welfare Benefits Board has allowed those who missed or could not apply during the first stage to reapply.
The “Aswesuma” welfare benefits will be distributed across four social categories: transitional, vulnerable, poor, and extremely poor. In addition, allowances for the disabled, elderly, and kidney patients will continue as usual. To improve the efficiency of field data collection, the Welfare Benefits Board has introduced a new mobile app with features for taking photos, geo-mapping, and voice recording.
The mobile app will be piloted in the Colombo Divisional Secretariat Division, where the collection of information will be implemented first.
