By Many in Sri Lanka Miss Out on Aswesuma Benefits Due to Lack of Bank Accounts
Over 135,000 Aswesuma poverty alleviation beneficiaries in Sri Lanka cannot receive their monthly payments because they do not have bank accounts, according to a senior government official.
Unpaid Beneficiaries
Despite the government approving 1.8 million households for Aswesuma benefits from last year’s applications, about 200,000 beneficiaries have not received any payments.
Payments Through Banks Only
The government channels Aswesuma benefits through formal banking systems to prevent corruption. “Around 135,000 of these 200,000 people haven’t opened bank accounts, so we can’t deposit their money,” said Jayantha Wijerathne, Chairman of the Welfare Benefits Board, on Monday (22).
Reasons for No Bank Accounts
Wijerathne explained several reasons why beneficiaries lack bank accounts:
Some people have bad credit scores due to unpaid loans.
Some are unaware and haven’t opened accounts despite requests.
Elderly and disabled individuals struggle to open accounts; officials are helping them. Once accounts are opened, they will receive all past dues since July last year.
Launch of Aswesuma Program
President Ranil Wickremesinghe launched the Aswesuma program last year to support the poor and vulnerable after an economic crisis. The World Bank funds this year’s program.
New Batch of Beneficiaries
The government is processing the second batch of beneficiaries and has received over 455,000 applications. Benefits will be provided to 2.4 million people in four categories: extreme poor, poor, vulnerable, and transitional..
Issues with National Identity Cards
Thousands of beneficiaries face delays due to duplicate national identity card (NIC) numbers. Wijerathne explained, “When two people have the same NIC number, the system rejects their payments.” This issue arises from manually produced identity cards in the past.
Solution for NIC Issues
Beneficiaries with duplicate NIC numbers have been notified via text messages to rectify the issue. Once resolved, they will receive full payments from July last year.
Electronic National Identity Card Project
The e-NIC project, established in 2012, aims to accurately verify personal identity using modern technology for NICs issued by the Department for Registration of Persons.
