He also noted that almost 157,000 elders over the age of 70 who were on the waiting list were also paid this allowance and in addition, almost 60,000 elders over the age of 70 have been identified from low-income families and based on the directives of the Presidential Task Force headed by Basil Rajapaksa, measures will be taken to grant the allowance to this group of elders as well.

Udawatte said that the majority of the senior citizens have been paid this allowance of Rs. 5000 amounting to a total of Rs. 2,600 million.