Controversy continues over deduction of Rs. 100 from low-income elders' allowance

Low income senior citizens have raised concerns about the continued deduction of Rs 100 from the Rs 2,000 monthly allowance paid to them by the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare and alleged the money collect- ed is not used for the benefit of elders.

Social Empowerment and We l f a r e Minister S. B. Dissanayaka, however, defended the decision to deduct the money saying it

was been used to set up day- care centres for the elderly and other welfare activities.

Rs100 is deducted from the monthly allowance of citizens over 70 years and whose monthly income is below Rs. 3000 through the National Secretariat for Elders (NSE) which functions under the Ministry.

However, the All Island Elders Society which works with destitute elders alleged that the money was not been used for any welfare for the needy.

The socieity's chairman K.D.C.S. Chadraratne said that with nearly 300,000 elders receiving the the Rs. 2,000 allowance, millions had been collected by deducting Rs. 100 monthly.

“The elders have to sign a paper saying they have received the full amount but are given only Rs1,900. What happens to the money collected remains a mystery,” he said.

Minister Dissanayake, however, said that his ministry planned to set up 1,074 day care centers for elders, starting next year.

“These will be centers where they can spend time in reading or mingling with other senior citizens,” he said.

The Minister also said that the money was also being used to pay Samurdhi workers an allowance for delivering the money to the homes of the beneficiaries.

However, the elders' society chairman said most recipients went to the post office to collect the allowance.

The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) last year raised the issue saying that deducting the Rs.100 was neither “reasonable nor ethical” and recommend that the deduction was being done without the approval of the Ministry of Finance. COPE also said that there was Rs 6.9 million in the fixed account of the NSE and this could be converted into welfare fund. The NSE should also consider returning the deducted amount to the beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office has moved to set up a Management Information System for the NSE to help manage a data base and keep a tab on the expenditure.