Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-06-12

Providing Samurdhi Subsidies to 150,000 low income families

- At present, around 1.38 million people are provided with benefits under the Samurdhi Subsidy Programme. However, it has been reported that families who have been resettled in the Northern and Eastern areas and are not presently Samurdhi beneficiaries as well as a large number of low income families living in the other areas of the country, identified as deserving the Samurdhi benefit, do not receive the said subsidy. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. P. Harison, the Minister of Social Empowerment, to expand the Samurdhi subsidy facility for a further 150,000 low income families, with the recommendations of the relevant District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries, was approved by the Cabinet.