Govt.'s Rs. 5000 Avurudu gift tainted by chaos, confusion and conflicts
The Government’s hurriedly announced Avurudu dole of Rs. 5,000 each to three million low income families has run into much chaos, confusions and conflicts with Grama Niladharis staying away from the programme while Samurdhi officers were at a loss to identify the beneficiaries.
Smurdhi officers’ union secretary Chamara Madduma-kaluge said the chaos was also due to April 12 being declared a public holiday. “On April 10, the Government announced that Rs. 5000 relief would be given in view of the National New Year to low income families and Samurdhi recipients. But Monday, April 12, being a public holiday, there was confusion with Samurdhi officers getting about 200-300 calls from people wanting to collect the money,” he said.
A circular (PTF/03-2021) was issued by the Prime Minister’s office to District Secretaries, Governors and Divisional Secretaries requesting them to disburse a onetime Rs. 5000 relief to Samurdhi families, families identified as low income earning, those who get the senior citizens allowance, disability allowance, families with kidney patients, families with elderly people above 100 years of age and low income families who have submitted appeals and qualified to be included in the above categories.
According to the circular, Samurdhi development officers and officers appointed by divisional secretaries are required to immediately distribute the money while adhering to health guidelines.
Mr. Madduma-kaluge said there were many fights and arguments between Samurdhi officers and the people who came to collect the money as identifying low income categories without proper documentation was a difficult task.
“During the lockdown, people coming under more than 10 categories were given Rs. 5000 relief, but this time around the categories were reduced to seven. This led to arguments and fights just a day before the New Year. Samurdhi officers were so much under pressure. We have the list of samurdhi recipients in our respective areas and the list of elderly and disabled. But apart from the lists, we had to identify low income families and it was no easy task with grama niladharis not getting involved this time,” he said.
“People came to samurdhi community bank branches demanding the Rs. 5000 while funds were released to pay only Samurdhi and other groups stated in the circular. The government failed to clarify why it removed other categories including those who lost employment due to the pandemic and farmers,” he said.
Mr. Madduma-kaluge said the union had written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, highlighting the inconveniences faced when sudden decisions such as this were taken.
If the programme had been announced at the beginning of the month, the distribution would have completed smoothly with deserving families getting the allowance in time to celebrate the New Year, he said.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced that the decision was taken by the President and him, following requests from ruling party parliamentarians to provide relief for poor people ahead of the New Year. The Premier said the project was handled by the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication and the Samurdhi Development Department.
On Thursday (15), Samurdhi Development Department’s Director General R.P.B. Tilakasiri instructed heads of Samurdhi community banks and bank societies that payments need to be done for about 30 percent from the selected groups as the required funding had been deposited in Samurdhi community bank branches.
He said if there were insufficient funds to pay the rest, the requested amounts would be deposited in bank branches by the Samurdhi Department.
The Director General also requested the heads to ensure the allowance was given only after identifying the low income families correctly.
Meanwhile, the Grama Niladhari Association said it decided to stay away from cash distribution due to lack of transparency in the distribution process.
“These payments come from the Samurdhi bank system and we fear this will result in us being blamed for any financial discrepancies during audits,” said the association’s chief, Sumith Kodikara.
He said grama niladharis had been asking for offices equipped with computers and database systems to enter details of families in their respective areas. If such arrangements had been in place, programmes such as this could have handled without much hassle.
“Unfortunately at present grama niladharis, family health officer and samurdhi officers do their grassroots level work manually. We stayed away this time as it was quite evident that this was a political move to stop people complaining about the skyrocketing cost of living,” he said.
On Thursday (15) distribution of money resumed after samurdhi officers were given a brief and restless day off for the New Year. The disbursing continued throughout this week.
Samurdhi State Minister Shehan Semasinghe assured that distribution would be completed by tomorrow.
People came to samurdhi community bank branches demanding the Rs. 5000 while funds were released to pay only Samurdhi and other groups stated in the circular. The government failed to clarify why it removed other categories including those who lost employment due to the pandemic and farmers