News
Official: Many Aswesuma beneficiaries handicapped without bank accounts
A significant number of people eligible for Aswesuma social security benefits do not have bank accounts and therefore the government failed to implement the initiative by 31 July as planned, a member of the Board of Directors of the Welfare Benefits Board Kamal Padmasiri says.
Padmasiri said, in a televised interview, on Thursday, that over 680,000 new accounts had been created by the end of July.There had been instances where the national identity card numbers were found to be duplicated, he said.
“Bank accounts have been duplicated. There are about 4,500 such accounts,” he said.
Padmasiri said they had asked for bank account numbers when the government called for applications for Aswesuma benefits. Some people had given bank accounts of their children and money could not be withdrawn from them until the account holders turned 18 years.
“There have also been issues with data entry. We make fund transfers straight to the banks and need accurate data. If we deposit money in wrong accounts that could essentially be a violation of financial regulations,” he said.
A large number of people who applied for benefits had been under the impression that they would receive cash and in late July and even early August a large number of people had queued up near banks to open accounts, Padmasiri said.
“Some people said we could use the Samurdhi bank to distribute money. The Central Bank said we must use banks that had the ability to process cheques. So, we could only use commercial banks. But a large number of people didn’t open accounts. Over 680,000 out of two million waited until late July to open accounts at selected state banks. There were long lines opposite banks, overwhelming the banking staff. Some people furnished wrong NIC numbers and there were issues with data entry. We do direct transfers and we need good data,” Padmasiri said, noting that Aswesuma payments could be made for everyone from next week.
According to the scheme, the selected beneficiaries will receive Rs. 15, 000, Rs. 8, 500, and Rs. 5,000 from the four selected state banks, the Regional Development Bank (RDB), National Savings Bank (NSB), Bank of Ceylon (BOC) and the People’s Bank.
“In about 10 days, we will be able to finalise data and tell people the number of total beneficiaries and the categories they are in, etc.,” he said.
Padmasiri said that there had been over 217,000 appeals. However, given that there were over 340 divisional secretariats, sorting out these appeals would not take a lot of time, he said. (RK)
News
Cabinet nod to increase the number of new automated passenger clearance gates at the Bandaranayake International Airport to 12
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 19.05.2025 to purchase four (04) automated passenger clearance gates for Bandaranayake International Airport.
In addition, it is expected to extend the automated passenger clearance gates facility so far given only to the Sri Lankans
parallel to the e – passport issuance system to be introduced in the year 2027 also to the foreigners who travel to and from this country.
Furthermore, considering also the number of air passengers rapidly increasing with the fast – forwarding business and tourism field, the appropriateness to increase the total automated passenger clearance gates up to twelve (12) in number has been recognized.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers, approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to initiate the procurement and installation of 12
automated passenger clearance gates altogether with the already approved four (04) and another eight (08) automated passenger clearance gates adhering to the formal procurement procedure
Based on the observations submitted by the Task Force on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing for Terrorism, approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 18.12.2024 to amend the Trust Ordinance No. 9 of 1917 including amendments proposed by the Financial
Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, clearance of the Attorney General has been granted for the Trust (Amendment) Draft Bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice and National Integration
to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby, submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Action was taken to provide a fuel relief for the fuel consumers during the months of April, May and June of 2026 to redress by minimizing the impact caused to the day today life of the citizens of this country as well as the entire economy due to the price hike of petroleum fuel in the global market resulting from the war situation in the Middle East.
Government mediation is essential for minimizing the impact on the day to today life of citizens in this country due to that war situation not being ended further. Therefore, it has been planned to redress on the sale price for Auto Diesel and Industrial Diesel for a period of 03 months by the Government to provide relief to the public as well as to maintain the prices at a bearable level to the consumers without escalating the fuel prices in this country compared to the escalation of fuel prices
in the international market.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to
allocate provisions subject to the monthly limitations respectively as rupees 15 billion for the month of October, rupees 13.5 billion for the month of November and rupees 12.15 billion for the month of December to provide the said relief
Cabinet nod to increase the number of new automated passenger clearance gates at the Bandaranayake International Airport to 12
Draft Bill for amending the Trust Ordinance
Implementing further relief programme to Public sffected by the Middle East conflict situation
Establishment of a Spectrum Management and Monitoring System and a Quality of Service and Quality of Experience System for the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka
Appointment of a Committee for the Restitution of Sri Lankan Cultural Heritage Held Abroad
Ten-Year National Action Plan on the Social Protection Sector (2026–2035)
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