The Welfare Benefits Board on Tuesday (24 Oct.) urged all eligible beneficiaries of the Aswesuma welfare benefit payment program to open their respective bank accounts to receive their entitled benefits, if they have not done so yet.
Accordingly, those beneficiaries, whose names have been listed at regional secretariats but have yet to open bank accounts to receive their entitled benefits, have been urged to do so without delay, Chairman of the Welfare Benefits Board, Jayantha Wijeratne said.
A discussion was held at the President’s Office recently, with the participation of the Welfare Benefits Board other related parties, pertaining to the Aswesuma programme which is overseen by State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe.
During the aforementioned discussion, Chairman Wijeratne disclosed that, as of 16 October, an amount of Rs. 7,705,302,250.00 has been disbursed to 1,230,097 families across five benefit categories related to July. He also noted that the remaining payments for July will be finalized by December.
However, it was also revealed that there have been delays in providing payments to another group of beneficiaries due to various issues, including pending appeals and protest investigations. State Minister Semasinghe subsequently emphasized the need to investigate the causes of these delays and expedite the disbursement of benefits.
Wijeratne stated that approximately two hundred thousand beneficiaries have faced delays in receiving their payments because they haven’t opened bank accounts yet, assuring that once they open their accounts, they will promptly receive the associated payments without any issues.
Beneficiaries of the subsidy can establish their bank accounts at any branch of Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, National Savings Bank, or Regional Development Bank in their locality by presenting the letter issued by the subsidy computer system of the relevant Regional Secretariat. The bank will then forward the account details to the Good Factor Benefits Board, the President’s Media Division (PMD) further reported in this regard.
To assist those applicants who cannot open bank accounts due to the absence of national identity cards, the Bank of Ceylon, National Savings Bank, and Regional Development Bank have extended the opportunity, with the condition that applicants provide their national identity cards within six months.
During the discussion, the importance of maintaining a robust unit within the divisional secretaries’ offices for the execution of the relief program was also emphasised. In light of the pressing need for the relevant payment activities to be completed by the end of this year, it was also suggested to declare a special work week to facilitate this.
Among those who participated in the discussion were Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the President, Chandima Wickramasinghe, Additional Secretary to the President, K. P. Harsha Wijewardena, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister (Administration), Champika Kaluarachchi, Additional Secretary (Social Empowerment) of the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment, M. Anoma Nandani, Additional Director General of the National Budget Department, J. M. S. D Ratnayake, Additional Director General (Social Infrastructure) of the National Planning Department, G. Pradeep Saputantri, Commissioner General of the Department of Registration of Persons, D. C. Athukorala, Senior Assistant Secretary (Village Officials Administration) at the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, W. P.C.A. Weerasuriya and Senior Assistant Secretary (Local Administration) at the Ministry of State Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government.
The discussion also saw the participation of the General Managers of Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, National Savings Bank and Regional Development Bank, as well as members of the Welfare Benefit Board and staff members.
