The elderly allowance for August is being credited to beneficiaries’ bank accounts on Thursday, the Welfare Benefits Board said, with payments going to senior citizens aged over 70 under the Aswesuma welfare benefit payment scheme.
A total of Rs. 3.091 billion is being paid to 618,352 senior citizens covered under the first phase of the Aswesuma programme. A further Rs. 391.3 million is being credited to the Aswesuma bank accounts of 78,260 senior citizens aged over 70 under the programme’s second phase.
Taken together, the two phases account for Rs. 3.48 billion paid to 696,612 recipients. Both tranches work out to Rs. 5,000 per beneficiary for the month, the rate that has applied to the over-70 allowance since it was raised from Rs. 3,000.
The Board said eligible beneficiaries can withdraw the money from their Aswesuma bank accounts from Thursday.
The elderly allowance is paid separately from the main Aswesuma income-support instalment, which is disbursed on its own schedule — the August instalment of Rs. 11.56 billion was credited in the middle of that month. The over-70 payment reaches a narrower group of recipients but is one of the more predictable recurring lines in the welfare budget.
Ada Derana’s report did not say whether any beneficiaries remain outside the payment because they lack an Aswesuma bank account, a gap that has held up disbursements to some recipients in earlier rounds. The Board also did not indicate whether the September payment will follow the same early-month timing.
The Welfare Benefits Board has been under scrutiny this year over administration of the scheme, including legal action against 14 officials over alleged fraud involving Aswesuma funds.
