The Hon. Dilith Jayaweera

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, under the special theme of social welfare and prosperity, I wish to highlight several points.

¶ 02 This Government came to power through a large campaign targeting the segment known as the suffering people—what they called the “poor class.” According to the current, albeit not fully up-to-date, data of the Department of Samurdhi Development, about 25% of households suffer from poverty. Nearly two million families have been identified as recipients under Aswesuma.

¶ 03 Firstly, Aswesuma is time-bound and funded with assistance from ADB and the World Bank, providing cash transfers to beneficiaries. From the 1940s—food stamps, ration cards, Janasaviya, Samurdhi—these evolved to Aswesuma today. However, this Government, too, has failed to present and implement a concrete, scientific, and logical program to lift these innocent people out of poverty. You may say Samurdhi Development will be revamped with some enterprise programs, but neither the content nor the proposed mechanism shows a plan to free the poor from poverty.

¶ 04 Tragically, welfare for the poor has long been used as a self-serving political tool, and this Government continues the same—arguably worse than before. We must put forward a scientific, rational program to uplift the poor, or we will remain a nation rife with poverty.

¶ 05 A key need is to instill a positive mindset among the poor. Without changing the dependency mentality, and instead weaponizing poverty for political projects, we doom them. The Government must first free itself from a poverty mindset. Only then can we credibly ask people to build prosperity. Present a clear plan: provide seed capital, enable microenterprise, self-employment, knowledge support, and set timelines for graduation from assistance.

¶ 06 If the same old methods persist with mere name changes, how can we believe we will uplift thousands of innocent citizens? This is becoming a major social problem. Rising crime is in part a manifestation of economic distress. If the Government ignores socioeconomic realities, and continues to look at the issues through traditional lenses, using the poor as political pawns, it is deeply regrettable.

¶ 07 Our poor are innocent. They still trust that one day leaders will help them rise. If they see no path forward for their children, how can they step out each morning with a positive mindset?

¶ 08 Finally, I urge the Government to present an honest, meaningful program to serve these innocent, poor citizens and implement it sincerely.

¶ 09 Thank you.