Living off welfare
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Sri Lanka has been gripped this week by social welfare fever and domestic debt restructuring, the latter of which we would discuss next week when the policy becomes clearer.Protests, akin to the demands by farmers last year over the chemical fertiliser ban, have been mounting across the country, by Samurdhi recipients accusing the authorities of removing them from the new scheme.
This week’s column was triggered by the conversation between Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, and the trio at the gate after the former came calling with his tuk-tuk of delightful breakfast food.
“Samurdhi wenuwata Aswesuma eida? (Will the Aswesuma scheme replace Samurdhi?),” asked Aldoris.
“Eka thama janathawage mathaya. Samahara Samurdhi ganna kattiya masiwili naganawa mae yojana kramayata wetila nae kiyala (That’s what people are saying. Some Samurdhi recipients are complaining that they are not in the scheme),” noted Kussi Amma Sera.
“Samaharu kanassalata pathwela inney, maeka thavath deshapalana wedak kiyala (People are worried that this would become another political scheme),” said Serapina.
“Samurdhi laebena mage naeda kenektath maeka balapala thiyenawa (One of my relatives who was receiving Samurdhi has also been affected),” said Mabel Rasthiyadu.
According to officials, under the Aswesuma scheme which replaces Samurdhi, payments will be distributed among four social categories – transitional, vulnerable, poor and extremely poor. Additionally, the usual allowances for the differently-abled, elderly and kidney patients will also be provided
Accordingly, 400,000 transitional beneficiaries will receive Rs. 2,500 per month until December 31, 2023; 400,000 vulnerable beneficiaries will receive Rs. 5,000 per month until March 31, 2024; 800,000 poor beneficiaries will receive Rs. 8,500 per month; and extremely poor beneficiaries will receive Rs. 15,000 per month for three years beginning July 2023.
Around 3,712,096 applications for welfare benefits have been received from Divisional Secretariats across the island although according to some surveys, the level of poverty has affected nearly 7 million people following last year’s economic crisis.
Samurdhi (prosperity) as the word itself denotes is aimed at people moving up the ladder and at some point exiting when incomes improve. The problem with this entitlement culture is that people continue to be dependent on this payment whereas recipients should be empowered to gradually become entrepreneurs or earn higher incomes and exit the scheme.
Probably for the first time, the Aswesuma scheme is being opposed by many ruling party parliamentarians as it affects their constituents and threatens the very existence of the SLPP-backed government. When ministers like Shehan Semasinghe accuse some politicians of unfairly criticising the scheme, they are in fact levelling allegations at their own party colleagues.
As I absorbed these details and the plight of the poor who are accusing the government of dropping them from the scheme, the phone rang.
It was Arthika, my nonsensical economist friend also known as good-for-nothing Somey, who was calling. “I have been following the Aswesuma-Samurdhi debate very closely,” he said after we exchanged the usual pleasantries.
“Yes, it has triggered a storm of protests largely because thousands of Samurdhi recipients say they have been left out of the scheme,” I said.
“The problem with these welfare schemes is that they have become highly politicised and tools for ruling party politicians to help their political cronies,” he said.
“A large number of beneficiaries of Samurdhi are political hangers-on and not eligible to this scheme and the problem the government is facing is in trying to ensure that only those deserving the handout are included in the new scheme,” I said.
Several surveys of the Samurdhi, launched in 1995, have shown that the scheme has helped those beneficiaries who shouldn’t be entitled.
In 2007, the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) found that the Samurdhi programme which constitutes 80 per cent of the total programme budget, missed about 40 per cent of the households among the poorest of the poor, while almost 44 per cent of the budget went to underserving households.
A review of the project by the World Bank noted that: “Based on the empirical analysis of the distributional outcomes, Samurdhi does not emerge as an efficient transfer programme. It is modestly successful in reaching the intended beneficiaries, but it transfers a large portion of its resources to the non-poor.” It was also said at the time that people who are ineligible to the scheme were beneficiaries, being critical of the targeting of the poor. The World Bank is supporting the new scheme.
CEPA, referring to a survey about the programme, found that: “Perceptions of bias, discrimination and political interference in the delivery of programmes emerged as a principal cause of dissatisfaction with the delivery of state social protection programmes.”
Freedom People’s Congress (FPC) leader Dulles Alahapperuma said that poverty reduction programmes such as Samurdhi and Janasaviya Poverty Alleviation Programme were launched for political purposes and thus their targets could not be reached.
The whole purpose of these poverty alleviation schemes was to eliminate poverty and move people up the income ladder. Have these schemes achieved these objectives? No, in fact, the opposite has happened in more people coming into the scheme, the non-poor benefiting and these being used as political tools to support cronies.
Multiple surveys show that Samurdhi lacked a structured mechanism for management, monitoring and evaluation that made the programme vulnerable to politicisation. While the main goal was to reduce poverty, it created an entitlement culture and dependency issues.
There has been criticism that a proper household and income survey has not been properly carried out particularly at a time when one survey showed that the number of poor has increased to 7 million from 3 million. The government has said it would field complaints until July 10 from Samurdhi beneficiaries who have been removed from the Aswesuma scheme.
Kussi Amma Sera brought in my second mug of tea just as I was winding up this week’s column, saying: “Hari prashna naeda Aswesuma ekka (Real problems with Aswesuma).” I was inclined to agree with her but hoped the government gets its target right this time compared to previous schemes which also benefited cronies.
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