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

The Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress· Digamadulla· 20 January 2026 ·Debate: Debate - Aswesuma Welfare Benefit Payment Scheme

Cost of LivingCorruption & Governance Reform
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Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe referred to the first phase of the Aswesuma programme, which began on 10 November 2025, and raised concerns about alleged party bias in beneficiary selection in Ampara. He requested that, if “Praja Shakthi” committee leaders and secretaries are appointed as observers to review beneficiary data, representatives of all parties should also be included, or alternatively a neutral independent mechanism should be established to ensure fair selection.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 Please grant me one more minute to conclude briefly.

¶ 02 The first phase of the Aswesuma programme commenced on 10 November 2025. According to this circular, the leaders and secretaries of the “Praja Shakthi” committees are to be appointed as observers to review data of both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. If so, representatives of other parties must also be appointed. In Ampara, party bias is evident in beneficiary selection. Therefore, appoint leaders and secretaries of all parties as observers, or form a neutral, non-political independent mechanism that can freely and fairly select beneficiaries. With that request, I conclude.

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Tuesday, 20 January 2026 ·No. 23200 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 20 January 2026. No. 23200. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/9078