By The Pulseline News Desk
A total of 1,391,830 applicants have reportedly failed to qualify for benefits under the latest Aswesuma welfare beneficiary review, prompting the Government to open a 14-day appeals window while rejecting reports that benefits have been suspended for nearly 1.4 million existing recipients.
The Welfare Benefits Board (WBB) had announced that 991,800 applicants had qualified under the first revised beneficiary list following an update and reassessment of applicant information.
The revised list, published on October 28, covered two categories: 363,142 households classified as extremely poor, eligible for a monthly allowance of Rs. 17,500, and 628,658 households classified as poor, eligible for Rs. 10,000 per month.
The Board’s figures indicate that 2,383,630 applicants had completed the information update process, of whom 1,391,830 were found ineligible under the revised selection criteria.
However, Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Upali Pannilage has dismissed reports claiming that Aswesuma benefits currently received by nearly 1.4 million people have been discontinued.
Speaking at an awareness programme for Samurdhi officers in Anuradhapura, the Minister has said approximately 1,206,000 people currently receive benefits under the programme.
He has explained that around 989,000 beneficiaries were receiving assistance under the first phase, while the revised list contained approximately 991,000 eligible beneficiaries, representing an increase of around 2,000.
A further 215,000 beneficiaries receive assistance under the second phase, which is scheduled for review next year. The Minister has assured that their existing benefits would continue until that review is completed.
He has also said approximately 740,000 additional applicants were yet to be covered by the next stage of the selection process, suggesting that the overall number of beneficiaries could increase following the completion of the review.
Meanwhile, the Welfare Benefits Board has opened an appeals process for applicants who have been deemed ineligible under the revised list.
In accordance with Section 11 of the Welfare Benefits Act, affected applicants can challenge the decisions between October 29 and November 11, 2026.
Existing beneficiaries who are dissatisfied with the benefit category assigned to them have also been given an opportunity to appeal.
The Board is expected to publish a second revised beneficiary list in December, covering approximately 740,127 additional households.
The latest review comes as the Government seeks to refine the Aswesuma programme by directing welfare assistance towards households classified as poor and extremely poor.
The Minister has urged the public not to be misled by reports of mass benefit suspensions, maintaining that the ongoing reassessment should not be interpreted as a blanket discontinuation of assistance to existing recipients.
The awareness programme, organised under the Department of Samurdhi Development’s national initiative ‘New Strength for Community Empowerment’, was attended by Samurdhi officers from Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts.
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