In spite of the severe economic hardships faced by the Government owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has commenced the grant of an allowance of Rs. 2,000 to those who have lost their livelihood due to the imposition of the quarantine curfew from August 23.
At present provisions have been made for the District Secretaries to grant the allowance. On August 22, the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation issued a circular regarding the grant of the Rs. 2,000 allowance.
However, the Government has not curtailed any subsidy or allowance given to deserving people due to the pandemic. The Government continuously provides welfare benefits and subsidies such as the Samurdhi allowance and elders’ allowance.
The monthly allowance given to differently-abled people, chronically ill kidney patients and the nutritional food package for expectant mothers are also being given without any hindrance.
The Government has also borne the cost of welfare programs on education such as free textbooks and school uniforms and the fertiliser subsidy. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his recent address to the nation said each time the country was placed under a lockdown due to Covid-19 risks, “We spend around Rs. 30 billion in each round to provide an allowance of Rs. 5,000 to the people who have become helpless without a daily income. The Government has borne this cost on a number of occasions.”
In addition to the cost of quarantine centres maintained by the Government, each family quarantined in their homes is provided with a relief package to the value of Rs. 10,000 for two weeks. Even under this dire situation, the Government has never taken any action to reduce the salaries or curtail the allowances of over 1.4 million public servants, he said.