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Election campaign doles: Poor families ordered to repay them
 The poorest of the poor families, which were given Rs. 2,500 each to improve their houses during former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election campaign have been ordered to repay the money.
The money was provided to Samurdhi beneficiaries under a housing project by the Divinaguma Development Department during the campaign for the presidential election on January 8, 2015.
An estimated 1.4 million families are beneficiaries of the Samurdhi scheme.
The Divinaguma Development Department has now issued a circular directing district level directors to recover the money as moves to obtain reimbursement from the Treasury have failed.
Accordingly, the beneficiaries have been asked to repay the amount on an instalment basis in the coming months, but in some instances, the Samurdhi officials have instructed the beneficiaries to pay the full amount.
Divineguma Director General Neel Hapuhinne told the Sunday Times there was a misunderstanding that beneficiaries did not have to repay the amount since it was a grant.
However, during the election campaign no explanation was given to the beneficiaries that it was a loan and needed to be paid back. He said an internal audit inquiry was underway over the way the payments were made from the Fund.
Mr. Hapuhinna in his circular said the balance in the Samurdhi Fund had significantly declined and therefore the money needed to be recovered.