The document tabled in response to a question raised by UNP Colombo District MP Ravi Karunanayake said that at the time Samurdhi Programme was introduced to the country, the poverty rate stood at 22.5 percent and as per today it came down to 6.5 percent. There are 1, 483,272 Samurdhi beneficiaries in the country today. There had been 1,540,019 Samurdhi beneficiaries as at December 2011 and the corresponding figure for the December 2012 stood at 1,516,543.

“The Samurdhi Programme makes an extraordinary contribution towards maintaining the living standards of the families at low-income level by assisting them to solve the problems encountered by their family units, enabling them to maintain their continuous contribution towards the national economy.

“A system of depositing Samurdhi beneficiaries’ entitlements in their accounts in Samurdhi Banks instead of the issuance of Samurdhi Stamps was introduced with effect from April 2012, with the objective of expanding the Samurdhi Relief Programme, thereby persuading the beneficiaries to effect savings and to make future investments,” the document said.(Special Reporter/HC)