All welfare payments under one roof from July

• Welfare Benefits Act No. 24 of 2002, will be activated from July  

By Sandun A Jayasekera   

All Welfare benefits paid to the poor by the Govt would be brought under one roof from July 2023, the Daily Mirror reliably learns.   

“The Government has decided to bring all welfare and social security benefits paid to low-income and marginalized families, patients with diseases like chronic kidney disease, helpless old-aged people and Samurdhi beneficiaries under one roof and streamline payments and benefits,” Minister Dr.Bandula Gunawardane told the Daily Mirror.   
“Accordingly the Welfare Benefits Act No. 24 of 2002, will be activated from July,” he said.   
The total number of beneficiaries under these schemes and payments that are made by various State establishments will now be brought under one State agency to prevent abuse of the welfare programmes and ensure all needy families benefit.   

Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardane said the Secretary to the President has appointed a technical committee comprised of subject standards for obtaining guidance to prepare a scheme of benefit payments that should be implemented.   

Considering the facts mentioned in the report forwarded by the said Technical Committee and based on the poverty difference, it has been planned to implement a Welfare Benefit Scheme for the transitional, marginal, poor and poverty-stricken social groups.   

Thus, other benefit schemes are planned to be implemented for differently-abled persons already benefitted, persons with Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKDu) as well as the elderly people identifying them.   
Accordingly, the proposed welfare benefit schemes will be implemented with effect from the first of July, 2023 while it has been calculated that the total expenditure per annum for the purpose will be Rupees 206 billion.  The proposal for the new arrangement to pay social security benefits and to establish a welfare benefits payment scheme has been submitted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.