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

Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe

Jathika Jana balawegaya· Anuradhapura· 19 March 2025 ·Debate: Committee of Supply: Appropriation Bill 2025 - Head 116 and Related Heads (Trade, Commerce, Food Security)

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Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe clarified that the Government will provide a relief goods pack to over 800,000 applicants awaiting Aswesuma assessment, offering items worth over Rs. 5,000 for Rs. 2,500. He stated that Cabinet had increased the allocation from Rs. 1,000 million to Rs. 1,500 million on the Food Security Committee’s request, with the Finance Minister to present the amendment, and that Lanka Sathosa had completed supplier and tender arrangements pending a Treasury advance.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 Since Hon. Mujibur Rahuman also asked earlier, let me clarify. We will provide a relief pack. The Cabinet increased the allocation from Rs. 1,000 million to Rs. 1,500 million upon the Food Security Committee’s request; the Finance Minister will submit the amendment tomorrow. We currently provide Aswesuma to 1.7 million households; another 807,000 have applied and await assessment. We will give a goods pack worth a little over Rs. 5,000 for Rs. 2,500 to those 800,000-plus applicants who do not yet receive Aswesuma. Lanka Sathosa has concluded supplier discussions and tenders; we have requested an advance from Treasury to proceed.

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Wednesday, 19 March 2025 ·No. 1748499233099643 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 19 March 2025. No. 1748499233099643. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/25216