ECONOMYNEXT — While it takes a holistic approach to poverty, there are clear gaps in Sri Lanka’s Aswesuma welfare benefits programme, the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) said, calling for improved targeting, revising criteria and additional indicators.
At a discussion held on Tuesday October 08, IPS Research Economist Pulasthi Amarasinghe offered insights into the effectiveness of the Aswesuma Programme. Introduced to replace the Samurdhi programme, Aswesuma uses 22 indicators across six dimensions to determine eligibility for cash transfers.
“According to a forthcoming IPS study, while the programme aims to improve the targeting of welfare benefits, only 53.51 percent of previous Samurdhi recipients are eligible for Aswesuma,” he said, noting that the programme should research previously unassisted groups.
Notably, nearly 40 percent of food-insecure households are not eligible for Aswesuma benefits, said Amarasinghe, adding that many households, when faced with economic hardship, resort to negative food coping strategies, such as reducing meal sizes or eating less nutritious food.
The IPS analysis suggests better targeting of vulnerable households by revisiting and changing the current criteria or incorporating additional indicators such as disaster preparedness. While a simulation analysis shows that the cash transfers would benefit the households in areas of food insecurity, the institute said, it also warns of a potential decline in labour force participation among Aswesuma beneficiaries—7.1 percent for women and 16.6 percent for men.
During the Q&A session at Tuesday’s event, participants discussed the need to incorporate indicators like food insecurity and nutrition sensitivity into welfare targeting. However, the challenges of quantification due to the diversity of nutrition remain. Amarasinghe agreed, emphasising that despite the difficulties in quantification, simpler measures of food consumption or dietary changes, as used in other contexts related to multidimensional indices, can still be considered to assess the household’s nutrient sensitivity.
Another key point raised was the predicted decline in labour force participation due to the Aswesuma programme. Participants stressed that simply providing cash transfers is not enough—raising wages and creating more job opportunities are crucial to improving overall welfare, IPS noted. (Colombo/Oct11/2024)