The Government has decided to expand the number of beneficiaries who will be provided relief via the State-run social safety net – Aswesuma. This, while a costly move, should be welcomed, if implemented properly. Improving the island’s social safety should be a key concern for the Government as over the last five years, many Sri Lankans have suffered much and fallen below the poverty line. As such, a policy decision by the Government in this respect must be commended.

The Government has also decided to provide the school stationery allowance granted for the children of Aswesuma beneficiaries to all children in 6,576 schools with less than 300 students who are from families that are not beneficiaries of the said welfare scheme, children living in child development centres, and both lay and monastic students in all ‘pirivenas’ across the island. This, too, while an expensive affair, is helpful as the number of school dropouts in the last three years has risen. Sri Lanka can ill afford to have an undereducated or poorly-skilled workforce in the future. Therefore, such initiatives to support keeping children in school and providing them with a meaningful education must be commended. This is also important as many children were reportedly facing challenges due to malnutrition due to food insecurity and significant reduction of purchase power of many households.   

Announcing the Cabinet of Ministers decisions yesterday (7), Cabinet Spokesperson and Chief Government Whip Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that steps have already been taken to provide an allowance of Rs. 6,000 each to schoolchildren from Aswesuma beneficiary families to access school stationery. He stated that the Government plans to expand the number of Aswesuma beneficiaries in the future. Responding to a question from the media regarding issues with the current beneficiary selection process, he explained that the Government has appointed grassroots-level committees, including Grama Niladharis, to review the status of the existing beneficiaries. "While this process is ongoing, new applicants can apply for the programme. Until the process is finalised, we must continue providing this benefit to children of the current beneficiaries. However, the Government recognised that this was insufficient, prompting the decision to expand the benefit to every child studying in a school with fewer than 300 students," he added.

He acknowledged the challenges in providing these benefits under strict criteria, emphasising that the Government prioritises the welfare of children. He noted the severe economic hardships faced by parents following the economic crisis, which influenced the decision to expand the allowance. He also encouraged individuals with objections to the current list of 'Aswesuma' beneficiaries to submit their concerns to the review committees for resolution through the relevant Divisional Secretary.  Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Ministry of Education has been entrusted with the provision of the allowance to orphaned children who do not belong to the relevant beneficiary families, children from families with disabled parents, all school age children in children’s homes and children belonging to groups who have become helpless due to special reasons. Considering the current lack of an up-to-date database to select children from families belonging to those categories and the need to provide the proposed stationery at the beginning of the new school term of 2025, the Cabinet approved the proposal submitted by the Prime Minister in her capacity as the Minister of Education to provide a stationery allowance to all aforesaid student groups, Jayatissa explained.

Social security and education are key sectors which need to be given a special focus to ensure that we do not leave any vulnerable Sri Lankans behind as the island inches towards a robust economic recovery. It is heartening to see such sectors being given the due policy prioritisation it needs. However, much more needs to be done in tandem, many beneficiaries have been on the social safety network for decades, which is indicative of an overall failure of the system. The Government, while expanding relief and supporting education, must also begin to introduce relevant regulations, as unpopular as they may be, to ensure that State-funded social safety nets like Aswasuma are not abused like the previous versions of it.