Progress of Aswesuma and the Aswesuma Week
- Identification of Aswesuma beneficiaries has not been finalised yet.
- The cash transfers have been delayed.
- The Aswesuma week expects to speedily resolve problems in payment to identified beneficiaries and resolving grievances.
The government has declared an Aswesuma week (from 6th November 2023) to resolve problems related to cash transfers to 2 million poor households (32% of 6.34 million Sri Lankan households), identified under 4 categories and to receive differentiated amounts as identified in the table below based on gazette number 2328/13, 21/04/2023. As shown below cash transfers were to be initiated in the month of July 2023.
This article provides the summary of progress of Aswesuma cash transfer program, as of 03/ November /2023 based on public interviews provided by public officials (sources quoted below) introducing the Aswesuma week.
As identified on above table 2 million household/families were to receive Aswesuma cash transfers. As of now (November 2023) only 1365000 (1.365 million) households have received the Aswesuma cash transfer due as payment for July 2023. About 0.7 million have submitted grievances on the identification process of poor households.
Among the current cash recipients 179272 are identified as severely poor household, of which 110362 are households with less than 2 members and receiving Rs 7500 a month and the balance 68910 households receiving Rs 15,000 a month. This reveals that the severely poor, post economic crisis is about 3% of the households of Sri Lanka. The expectation was to identify 400000 households that are severely poor. The present identification of severely poor may increase after the Aswesuma grievance process is completed of about 7 lakhs of grievance complains that have been received, of which it is said that many have grieved that they ought to be identified as severely poor, though they have been identified as Aswesuma beneficiaries.
Among those who have been already identified as eligible to receive Aswesuma cash transfers 3.6 lakhs households have not yet received cash transfer due to not having a bank account (234997 household), not yet having a national identity card (75457 households) and confusions regarding identification of bank accounts number etc. (54586 households).
In addition to the Aswesuma cash transfer recipients, 395000 households (3.9 lacks) are yet receiving Samurdhi cash transfers. Some of them may be among those who have lodged grievances on the Aswesuma program. It is expected that these payments would cease by December, once the Aswesuma programs identification of poor households are finalized by end of December 2023.
Aswesuma cash transfers have been done by now (November 2023), to identified households of that due as June transfers. The cash transfer due for August 2023 is expected to be disbursed during this week for the same 1.365 million households amounting to Rs 8.5 billion. Thus average cash receipt across the four categories of household/month is about Rs 6000. The cash transfers due for September, October, November and December to be done in due course but before end of December 2023. As grievances are resolved the numbers receiving cash payments are expected to increase each month up to December. A date to accept new applications for the Aswesuma program has not been announced.
Prepared by: Hemesiri Kotagama
References
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2zsWDFTkD20&si=t_52LPxFCC8I4_Ud
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox?projector=1
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox?projector=1
