Getting welfare schemes right

The Samurdhi Program served, as successive governments main initiative, adopting a three-pronged bottom-up approach by providing social assistance, microfinance, and livelihood development. These schemes focused on providing safety nets to vulnerable groups. However, the institutional and legal landscape is convoluted and fragmented. The schemes lack proper coverage due to systemic inefficiencies, as shown by the UNDP’s Comprehensive Landscape Mapping of Current Social Protection Systems in Sri Lanka performed a few years ago. 

According to estimates from the Department of Census and Statistics, 13 social assistance programs, including Samurdhi and disability and senior citizens’ allowances, only contributed to a drop in the percentage of people living in poverty from 18% to 14.3% in 2019.

In response to the economic catastrophe that followed COVID-19, emergency monetary transfers were arranged. These were made available to families that had lost a source of income owing to the pandemic and may self-register for the benefits, in addition to those who were already beneficiaries of specific programs and those on beneficiary waiting lists. This enabled better coverage, as indicated by 86% of the poorest households getting benefits- compared to 45% for normal payments.

This was a squandered opportunity since the information was never compiled nor digitalised, and as a result, it could not be used to assist decision-making or any more rounds of financial transfers. Processes that are data-driven and digitally enabled have the ability to reduce such administrative inefficiencies while simultaneously enhancing coverage and targeting.

The delivery methods used by Sri Lanka’s many social assistance programs have not been coordinated well. For the Samurdhi monthly cash transfers, Samurdhi “Banks” have acted as a place of collection, whereas senior citizens’ allowances, disability benefits, and renal patient allowances are paid out via post offices, state banks, and divisional secretariats, respectively.

Heralding the new initiative called “Aswesuma” the Government said that beginning in April 2023, these payments will be paid out via bank transfers, as mentioned in the 2023 Budget Speech. If this were distributed across all Governmental and private banks, there would be more than 4000 points available for rewards. This is four times the number of collecting stations now accessible to Samurdhi recipients. As a result, there would be a large reduction in travel time, which would make it easier to collect the benefits.

The Government may eventually think about allowing recipients to select their preferred mode of receiving the monies, such as mobile money, in addition to the current ones. It is essential to determine how many homes are impoverished with accuracy. In order to understand poverty in Sri Lanka, especially multidimensional poverty. 

A sample size of 25,000 homes is gathering household-level data on household finances, coping mechanisms, and access to basic commodities and social services across all 25 districts by the UNDP. With a sample size of 10,000 other surveys occur in 25 districts to gather information on income, spending, and markers of multidimensional poverty.

It is essential to simultaneously launch a comprehensive national awareness campaign in order to ensure that the public is always aware of the justification for all future actions taken and the short and long-term effects anticipated, leveraging the current public appetite for transparency and accountability and ensuring its continuation. This will help operationalise the aforementioned mechanism quickly and thoroughly. Information such as eligibility requirements, straightforward registration procedures, and who to contact for support and grievance resolution should be offered in an understandable style. 

The intended benefit groups should get all material in both of the native tongues, including sign language, in an efficient and inclusive manner.