The number of beneficiaries receiving the Aswesuma welfare benefit has fallen to 1,251,522 as of August 2026, compared to the 2,439,917 beneficiaries recorded in 2025.

The reduction by nearly half in the number of recipients of the Aswesuma welfare benefit, a government subsidy programme for low-income families, compared to the previous year was highlighted in Parliament today (11).

This was revealed in response to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and answered by Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando.

The Opposition Leader questioned the government on whether this reduction was carried out in accordance with instructions from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut the Aswesuma welfare allowance provided to low-income families.

In response, Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando stated that the Aswesuma program was launched in 2023, and the relevant Act itself mandated a reassessment from the program's inception. 

Accordingly, the Deputy Minister stated that applications received during the first and second phases of the Aswesuma Welfare Benefit Scheme are currently undergoing re-verification, with the process expected to conclude within this month.

“Under this, applications received during the first and second phases are currently undergoing re-verification. We expect to complete this process by the end of September, with 90% of the verification already completed.”

The Deputy Minister said there were 1,773,445 beneficiaries when the programme was launched in 2023, while the number stood at 1,761,116 by December 2024.

He further stated that while the number of beneficiaries rose to 2,439,917 in 2025, it dropped to 1,251,522 by August 2026 due to several factors.

The Deputy Minister explained that the Aswesuma welfare benefit was initially distributed under four categories, which are ‘extremely poor, poor, vulnerable and transitional’.

The provision of benefits to the transitional category ended in December 2025, while payments to the vulnerable category ended in June 2026, the Deputy Minister Anil Jayantha said. 

He further said that the Government is currently providing Aswesuma benefits only to the ‘extremely poor’ and ‘poor’ categories, while the reassessment process is underway.

The Deputy Minister stated that the initial monthly Aswesuma allowances were Rs. 15,000 for the ‘extremely poor’ category, Rs. 8,500 for the ‘poor’ category, Rs. 5,000 for the ‘vulnerable’ category and Rs. 2,500 for the ‘transitional’ category.

According to the Deputy Minister, the Aswesuma allowances were revised through a Gazette notification issued on December 15, 2025, increasing the allowance for the ‘extremely poor’ category to Rs. 17,500 and the allowance for the ‘poor’ category to Rs. 10,000, while the allowance for the ‘transitional’ category was increased to Rs. 5,000.

He further said around 90% of the reassessment process has been completed and that the final number of eligible beneficiaries will be determined once the process is concluded.

The Deputy Minister said under the original framework, the ‘transitional’ category was scheduled to end in 2024, but following amendments, it concluded in December 2025. The ‘vulnerable’ category concluded in June 2026. 

“According to the original schedule, the remaining two categories will continue until June 2027. In the meantime, the re-survey will determine the final number of eligible beneficiaries, which currently stands at around 1.2 million," he added.