800,000 families to get ‘Aswesuma’ benefits tomorrow: Semasinghe

Steps have been taken to disburse 'Aswesuma' funds to the respective banks today to pay the welfare benefits to 800,000 families in the first stage, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said today.

He said 1.5 million beneficiaries have been selected out of the 2 million who have applied for the welfare benefits and that the money for the month of July will be credited tomorrow to the accounts of 800,000 beneficiaries whose information has been confirmed correctly.

“The eligible beneficiaries can withdraw their money from the respective banks by Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said. 
 
The Minister said payments will be made promptly to the other beneficiaries after verifying the information in their applications.

“The Welfare Benefits Board has received one million appeals and 120,000 objections so far. The survey related to appeals and objections has started by now and payments will be made to all the beneficiaries as soon as it is completed,” he said.

He said if any person had received benefits by giving false information, after verification, the Welfare Benefits Board will take action to recover the money and also take legal action against them. (Ajith Siriwardana)