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Sri Lanka
10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

Sitting of Friday, 20 June 2025

10th Parliament· 18 debates· 194 speeches· 60 speakers

Source: Hansard PDF (parliament.lk) ↗ ·No. 1751600792021434 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard

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Order of business

Speeches load per item. Summaries shown here are AI-generated and labelled; verbatim text is on each speech page.

  13. 13 Oral question Question under Standing Order 27(2): Aswesuma Welfare Programme (Leader of Opposition) 5 speeches
    • The Hon. Speaker procedural
      Full speech →
    • The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition SJB

      AI summary Hon. Sajith Premadasa raised concerns that the Aswesuma welfare programme has excluded genuine beneficiaries and may provide insufficient support given current food prices and poor farmgate returns for small cultivators. He asked the Government to state the programme’s objectives, beneficiary numbers and expenditure by category and year, selection criteria, whether the targeting method is scientific, and whether all 8 million applications have been categorized. He also urged the Government to use World Bank and other poverty data to revise the scheme or present alternatives. Additionally, he requested urgent action to retain a Singaporean foam mattress export investor reportedly constrained by an export quota cap, warning of possible loss of investment and jobs.

      Cost of LivingPublic Finance Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma - Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning

      AI summary The Deputy Minister responded to questions from the Leader of the Opposition on the welfare benefits programme under the Welfare Benefits Act, stating that payments had continued up to April for about 94% of selected households and giving aggregate disbursement figures for 2023, 2024 and January–June 2025. He said eligibility criteria were those gazetted on 20 October 2022, the methodology had been piloted and would be improved, and more detailed information was expected by end-July 2025, with government using reputable data to strengthen social welfare and support economic empowerment of vulnerable groups. He also addressed concerns about a foam mattress exporter, saying agreements prohibit Sri Lanka being used to bypass anti-dumping rules, and that the issue arose because the investor now sought access to markets it had earlier agreed not to export to.

      Cost of LivingPublic Finance Full speech →
    • The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition SJB

      AI summary Sajith Premadasa questioned the continued use of the 2022 Aswesuma eligibility criteria, noting that both his side and the current President had previously opposed them, and called for a scientific, data-driven revalidation of targeting and poverty lines. He argued that poverty alleviation should go beyond cash transfers to include investment, savings, production, exports and consumption. He also urged the Government to strengthen trade facilitation by appointing a dedicated trade representative or agency staffed by capable public officers to retain and expand investments.

      Public FinanceCost of Living Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma - Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning

      AI summary The Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning stated that identified gaps in the programme are being addressed to help beneficiaries integrate into economic activity. He said implementation work has begun and discussions are ongoing to further strengthen the programme.

      Public FinanceEmployment Full speech →