• 1 in 6 people experience poverty in Sri Lanka
• Nuwara Eliya records the highest incidents of poverty at 44.2%

By Sarah Hannan The latest statistics published by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) of Sri Lanka to present a briefing on the country’s first, National Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMPI) reflects that nearly one out of every six people in Sri Lanka experience multidimensional poverty, with 44.2% of the population in Nuwara Eliya below the poverty line. The country’s NMPI stands at 0.067, meaning that poor people experience 6.7% of the total possible deprivations that could be experienced if everyone was deprived of everything. Poverty in Sri Lanka is not common to just one region, with the headcount ratio reflecting percentages of 4.4% in urban areas, 16.6% in rural areas, and 51.3% in estate areas. This means the National MPI is 0.018 in urban areas, 0.068 in rural areas, and 0.236 in estate areas. The intensity of poverty in each of these sectors, therefore, stands at the highest in estate areas (46.1%), compared to rural areas (40.9%) and urban areas (40.6%). This highlights estate areas as pockets of poverty that require policy attention. Across districts, 3.5% to 44.2% of people are poor. At the district level, multidimensional poverty varies substantially with Colombo (3.5%) and Gampaha (5.1%) having the lowest incidence of poverty. The soaring cost of living is pushing scores of people into multidimensional poverty each day, with many taking to the streets in protest. The statistics issued by the DCS paint an unfavourable picture of the state of the nation. As of January 2022, inflation was at 16.8% and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was estimated for Q3 of 2021 at -1.5. The official poverty line at the national level for January 2022 stood at Rs. 5,908. While the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication still stands and a State ministerial portfolio to improve the wellbeing and livelihoods of low-income families has been appointed under the Ministry of Finance, The Sunday Morning looks at measures the Government has taken to reduce multidimensional poverty.

Alleviating poverty a priority

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, State Minister of Samurdhi, Household Economy, Micro Finance, Self-Employment, and Business Development Shehan Semasinghe noted: “We are very much aware of the situation that the country’s citizens are facing due to the many temporary problems that have arisen given the state of the economy. However, we as a Government are taking all necessary measures to ensure food safety and are looking at providing the necessary technical and vocational training to low-income families so that they are able to move out of poverty.” Semasinghe said that the pandemic had pushed many countries into economic crises over the past two years. “There are outside forces and certain politically-motivated individuals who are fear-mongering by predicting that there is going to be a food shortage and that Sri Lanka will face a famine soon. This is not true; in due time the citizens will understand that these are artificial problems that are created by certain individuals and organisations to provoke the people.” When asked about what benefits Samurdhi beneficiaries would receive this year and whether there had been an increase in families enrolling for Samurdhi benefits, Semasinghe noted that through this year’s budgetary allocations the beneficiaries had received an increase in their allocations. “It is difficult to say whether we have more Samurdhi beneficiaries today compared to the beneficiaries we had pre-pandemic, as we have not carried out a consensus. We try to encourage families to start businesses rather than just receive benefits,” Semasinghe elaborated.

Grow your own food

Meanwhile, when The Sunday Morning questioned how the Government planned to ensure food security amidst the skyrocketing prices of essential items, Semasinghe noted that a home gardening programme would be popularised. “To curtail the matter of food insecurity we are planning to introduce a ‘grow your own food’ programme in 2.2 million households starting from April. We will distribute four types of vegetable seeds for these households to plant and the households will be selected from their respective District Secretariat offices,” Semasinghe added. Accordingly, the Department of Agriculture (DOA) has prepared the necessary leaflets with systematic instructions for those who are keen on starting home gardening projects. Any plot of land that is under 20 perches of land expanse is suitable for home gardening. The DOA suggests that households replace a few of their ornamental plants with crops that would provide yields of foods and supplementary foods that are otherwise expensive to purchase in retail outlets. During the second year of the pandemic, many households had started to grow their own turmeric, spring onions, ginger, tomatoes, chilli, yams, and leafy greens as they only have a growing cycle of 90 days.

Voices from the streets

While many of us are worried about gas and fuel shortages and not having received salary increments over the past three years, there is also a segment of the society living below the poverty line who are either dependent on the income they earn in-kind or engage in trades that give them marginal profits on a day-to-day basis. The Sunday Morning spoke to several such individuals who spend most of their day on the roadsides or in the foyers of public places to earn a living or are able to receive in-kind payments. Not all were forthcoming with their life stories. They pleaded to be given a lunch packet or a packet of milk powder to feed an infant they were carrying around, and the occasional person with a prescription asked us to buy them certain medicines or wanted money to purchase them. However, we managed to speak to two individuals who were very forthcoming about their circumstances and even allowed us to photograph them.

Daily-earnings barely enough

[caption id="attachment_194559" align="alignleft" width="227"] Malani Malkanthi (64) is a lottery seller and caregiver for her paralytic husband. PHOTO © Sarah Hannan[/caption] Sixty-four-year-old Malani Malkanthi is a mother of three who sells lottery tickets on the steps of the Queen's Hotel in Kandy. She takes care of her paralytic husband who is 67 years old and they live in a rented room, which costs them Rs. 3,000 per month. “I have two daughters and a son. Both daughters are married and they live separately, while my son has a mental disorder. My husband and I survive on whatever little income I earn selling lottery tickets. Most of the time we eat only dinner and during the day we eat some snacks. It is a difficult time for everyone, but what can we do other than try to somehow earn money and live another day?” Malkanthi said. She said that on a good day she was able to sell about 200 lottery tickets. She makes Rs. 2.50 for each ticket sold, which fetches around Rs. 500. During pre-Covid times she used to sell 250 tickets, which brought her Rs. 625 per day. The income from the lottery sales alone is insufficient in case they have to attend to an emergency, which places Malkanthi in a difficult situation where she resorts to taking loans. “I make it a point to settle these loans as soon as possible, so when there is an emergency again, I can easily borrow money from them,” she concluded.

Surviving on water

R. Raviharan, a 43-year-old father of two, can be seen near the Bank of Ceylon building near the Kandy Clock Tower. Before Raviharan chose street life, he had been a coconut plucker. After falling from a 30 feet tall coconut tree and landing on a stone, he had received near-fatal injuries and had been in the Kandy Hospital for 10 months. [caption id="attachment_194560" align="alignright" width="242"] R. Raviharan (43) is a differently-abled father of two. PHOTO © Sarah Hannan[/caption] “I am from a Tamil family and my wife is Sinhala Buddhist. We have two children. The eldest is 17 and is now a novice monk at a temple in Avissawella. Our youngest child who turns five this year was diagnosed with incurable cancer and is receiving treatment at the Maharagama Apeksha Hospital Ward 15 B. My wife has to wait with the baby,” Raviharan explained. His life had changed completely after his accident and the cancer diagnosis of his youngest. Since there is no one at home and they do not have a home of their own to live in, Raviharan had decided to live in the city and plead for donations. “Every 20 days I go to see my child at the hospital. I have to save enough money for the journey and back and give some money to my wife, so most of the time I survive on water. Even if people buy meals for me, I always give them to another poor person. My son who is a monk visits his mother and sibling whenever he can as he lives in Avissawella.”  

Socioeconomic status in numbers

The DCS conducts the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) once every three years and the latest statistics available are from the 2019 HIES, which gives a snapshot of the information on household income/expenditure, income disparities, and poverty. The survey includes data collected and analysed from 25,000 households selected to cover the entire country. A HIES is currently being carried out from January-December 2022 and will be published in 2023. The average monthly household income estimated through the HIES of 2019 was Rs. 76,414 against the average monthly household expenditure which was Rs. 63,130, whereas the median monthly household income was estimated at Rs. 53,333 during the HIES of 2019 against the median monthly household expenditure of Rs. 47,544. The share of household income that comes from employment (wages/salaries) was 37.5% in 2019, making it 0.7% points lower than in 2016 when compared to 2019. The highest contribution to household income comes from this category in any year. The share of household income from agricultural activities was 6.7% in 2019 – 0.9% points lower than in 2016 when compared to 2019. According to the HIES 2019 data, the mean per capita income of the country was Rs. 20,527 and the median per capita income was Rs. 14,095. The mean per capita income ranges from Rs. 28,809 in the Western Province to Rs. 13,925 in the Eastern Province and the median per capita income ranges from Rs. 19,383 to Rs. 10,250 in the same provinces. The survey results reveal that the average monthly income receivers’ income per month for Sri Lanka in 2019 is Rs. 42,308, which is a 24.8% increase from the Rs. 33,894 were reported in 2016. The average number of income receivers per household is 1.8, which remains unchanged since 2006/’07.

Household consumption in numbers

The HIES data was analysed to see the consumption expenditure pattern of households and individuals among the various categories for which HIES collects data under three main categories – Expenditure on food items, Expenditure on non-food items, and Expenditure incurred by boarders and domestic servants Accordingly, the mean (average) household expenditure per month was Rs. 63,130 for the year 2019 with the average household expenditure per month increasing to 14.8% from 2016 to 2019. At the same time, the median household expenditure per month increased to 18.3% from 2016 to 2019 (from Rs. 40,186 to Rs. 47,544 respectively). However, the DCS is still using the HIES 2016 stats to calculate the official poverty line of the country despite having stats from the HIES 2019 in hand.