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Board coming up to oversee payment of welfare benefits
The Government is to start implementing a 14-year-old law called the Welfare Benefits Act that envisages the creation of a Board to oversee payment of all welfare relief benefits such as Samurdhi.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake this week signed the gazette to give effect to the Welfare Benefits Act No. 24 of 2002 from February 15, 2016.
It provides the necessary legal framework for the payment of all welfare relief benefits; sets out a transparent selection process by which the recipients of such benefits can be identified; and provides for the termination of such benefits.
“Any transfer to households will be routed through the Welfare Act,” said Minister Karunanayake. “It will help avoid waste and duplication.” “The implementation of this Act has been long delayed,” said Treasury Secretary R.H.S. Samaratunga“There are so many welfare benefits programmes that nobody knows the total architecture. Somebody should look into it.”
Dr Samaratunga said the benefits include Samurdhi and others such as payouts to pregnant mothers, malnourished children, the disabled, etc.
They are, what he called, “one-way transfer programmes” and do not cover pensions. The implementation of the Act will ensure that only the truly deserving get the benefits while eradicating duplication.
“The primary purpose is to have a centralised place,” he explained. “This is just the beginning. We must start with collecting data.”
Under the Act, the Minister will appoint a Commissioner of Welfare Benefits and four members of a Welfare Benefits Board (WBB).
The Board will have authority to select persons who are eligible to receive welfare benefit payments. The selection is to be made in “a non-discriminatory manner and in accordance with prescribed selection criteria”.
Every person applying to receive welfare benefit payments will be expected to make a declaration to the Commissioner setting out all particulars relating to the income assets and liabilities of such person, his spouse, dependant children or other dependents.
The information in this declaration shall be used by the Board for ascertaining whether a person is eligible to receive welfare benefit payments. Appeals committees and selection committees will also be set up under the terms of the Act.
The Act even has provision for recovering monies from those who are deemed ineligible to receive welfare benefit payments.
“The Board may after making such inquiry as it considers necessary, remove such person from the list of persons eligible to receive welfare benefit payments and inform such person in writing of the same,” it states.
“The Board shall also discontinue any payment to such person with immediate effect and where any benefit has been paid to such person, the Board shall require him to refund the same to the Board within such time as is specified in that behalf.” A party that does not refund the monies is to be considered a defaulter.
A 2006 World Bank publication describes the Act as one that seeks to address key structural deficiencies of the Samurdhi programme.
“Specifically, the Act mandates an independent WBB and lower-level committees to set eligibility criteria, validate entry and exit into the programme, and redress appeals,” it states.
“The Act also envisages setting objective criteria for selecting beneficiaries to minimise the level of subjectivity in the selection process and lend the process greater transparency,” it adds.
“The role of the WBB includes monitoring entry into and exit out of the programme through periodic collecting of data, and setting the rules for redressing grievances through an appeals process.
The actual operation of the appeals process will be managed by village or Grama Niladhari (GN) division level committees.”
There is a provision, too, for emergency relief whereby the Welfare Commissioner may authorise welfare benefit payments of a temporary nature to affected persons with prior approval of the Board. The emergency relief extended under the Act is not to exceed one year.