The Committee on Ways and Means reviewed the progress of the ongoing process to revise the existing beneficiary selection criteria for the Aswesuma Welfare Programme.
The matter was taken up when the Committee met in Parliament rcently under the chairmanship of Hon. Member of Parliament Wijesiri Basnayake.
The Committee had previously instructed the relevant authorities to review the existing beneficiary selection criteria in order to identify and address shortcomings in the current selection process for the Aswesuma Welfare Programme.
Accordingly, officials of the Welfare Benefits Board briefed the Committee on the pilot study relating to the new beneficiary selection methodology recommended by the expert committee appointed for this purpose.
Officials informed the Committee that the proposed methodology seeks to replace the existing selection criteria with a new framework based on socio-economic vulnerability. They further stated that a pilot study is expected to be conducted in several selected districts to test the proposed methodology before its wider implementation.
It was also revealed that the proposed methodology would assess a range of socio-economic vulnerability indicators, including employment and livelihood security of the household, family composition, ageing, disability, chronic illnesses, access to housing and essential services, as well as household indebtedness.
The Committee held extensive discussions on the proposed methodology and subsequently granted its approval for the implementation of the pilot study.
The meeting was attended by Committee Members, Hon. Eng. Eranga Weeraratne, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Hon. Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, as well as Hon. Members of Parliament Dr. Nandana Millagala, Thilina Samarakoon, Champika Hettiarachchi, and Chathura Galappatthi, together with other officials.
