New regulations pertaining to payment of welfare benefits to be tabled in Parliament

The approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted this week to table the new regulations on payment of welfare benefits (section of eligible persons for receiving payments) in Parliament, in order to make cash transfers to identified recipients under the social safety net programmes while eliminating undeserving recipients.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Minister, sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to table the regulations for payment of welfare benefits (section of eligible persons for receiving payments), as per the provisions No. 1 of 2022, subject to Section 27 of Welfare Benefits Act No. 24 of 2002, in Parliament.

The regulation was published in an extraordinary gazette notification on October 20, 2022.

The Welfare Benefits Board is currently in the process of establishing an information system based on the data collected from the applicants, based on the consolidated welfare management systems regulations No. 2 of 2022, under Electronic Transaction Act No. 19 of 2006.

Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Bandula Gunawardana noted that the government plans to strengthen the social safety net programmes with foreign funds while eliminating the undeserving recipients, in particular with regards to the Samurdhi scheme.