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Income generating avenues for 200,000 poor families

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The government will introduce income generating avenues among 200,000 low income families during the next year to alleviate poverty and uplift their economic standards under the poverty alleviation programmes launched by the Samurdhi Movement, Samurdhi Director General Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne said yesterday.

He told the Daily News the entire responsibility of meeting this challenge has been entrusted to the Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority (SLSA).

The SLSA has prepared programmes to be launched next year aimed at strengthening the socio and economic standards of the 200,000 Samurdhi beneficiary families.

Dr. Nawaratne said the SLSA will increase the Rs. 50,000 loan to Rs. 100,000 granted to Samurdhi families to commence self-employment ventures from January next year. This loan facility will also be granted to beneficiary families who have improved their industries to small and medium scale level to further develop their industries.

The SLSA will make joint efforts with Samurdhi Bank Societies, Samurdhi Small Groups and Samurdhi beneficiaries at divisional secretariat level to make this a success.

Agriculture, Livestock and Samurdhi Minister S.B. Dissanayake said they are targetting to eradicate poverty among 200,000 low income groups during the next year as part of the Ministry initiatives to uplift 2.1 million low income families which accounts 52 per cent of the total population.

The programme's objective is to open avenues for low income families to earn a satisfactory income. Various income generating projects will be introduced among Samurdhi beneficiary families. The SLSA will also seek assistance of private sector industrialists for this.

Meanwhile, a new methodology has been formulated to grant Samurdhi relief. This has categorised Samurdhi families into three groups as 'Red' poor families (families who can never be strengthened), 'Yellow' families (families who can be alleviated from their poverty) and 'Green' families (families who have reached the income generating level by alleviating poverty).

Commenting on complaints made against the curtailment of Samurdhi relief, Dr. Nawaratne said Samurdhi subsidies cannot be granted to low income families forever. According to the Samurdhi programme, once the low income families attain income generating level, the amount of relief will be reduced to provide Samurdhi relief for the more deserving.

However the Samurdhi families who reached self sustaining level will not be removed from the Samurdhi movement altogether. They will be kept within the Samurdhi programme forever by granting them a Rs.140 monthly allowance, he said.

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