The government has acknowledged that 4 million families living in this country do not receive enough income to meet their needs.
It is confirmed by a statement made by Samurdhi Minister of State Shehan Semasinghe to the Silumina newspaper. He states that an allowance of Rs. 5,000 was given to 4 million families during the Sinhala and Hindu New Year and Ramadan. The total number of families in this country is around 5.5 million. This confirms that about 72% of the total families have fallen into poverty and need government assistance.
By the end of the previous government, the total number of Samurdhi recipient families in the country was around 1.4 million. Before the general election, the government had stated that it would increase the number of families receiving Samurdhi allowance to 2.3 million. However, the paying of Rs. 5000 to 4 million families during the festive season indicate that 72% of the families in the island live in extreme pov
