Aswesuma a mere blindfold, says Marikkar

SJB Media Spokesman and Deputy National Organiser S.M. Marikkar 

• Accuses Govt. of curtailing social welfare benefits accorded to those with special needs, chronic kidney disease and other illnesses
• Claims many injustices have also been committed when choosing beneficiaries for the Aswesuma program
• Says Aswesuma is a short-term political campaign leading to presidential poll

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Media Spokesman and Deputy National Organiser S.M. Marikkar yesterday slammed the Government’s new social welfare program ‘Aswesuma’ calling it a mere blindfold.

He said the Government has curtailed the Samurdhi benefit of the poor to implement the Aswesuma program instead to deceive the people. He said many injustices have also been committed when choosing beneficiaries for the new program.

“In a country where the people are struggling under the weight of the cost of food, water and electricity tariffs, in a country where the children’s education has been destroyed the Government has now introduced yet another blindfold called Aswesuma,” he said.

The MP revealed that social welfare benefits provided to those with special needs, chronic kidney disease and other illnesses have been curtailed as a result of the new program.

“The Samurdhi has also been affected. The needy who benefitted from the Samurdhi has been removed from the Aswesuma list while those who are not in need of social welfare have been listed as Aswesuma beneficiaries,” he claimed.

Marikkar called the Aswesuma program a mere ‘political campaign’ and claimed it would only last until the presidential election. “Samurdhi was a long-term program. But this is a political campaign. We would also like to question how this program was carried out with only the participation of university students and development officers and without the support of Grama Seva officers,” he said.

The MP said the SJB is prepared to rally the underprivileged who have been left out of the Aswesuma program and against the injustices committed against them. “This political system needs to be changed. This requires a team with abilities and skills, as well as a team with a leader who is sensitive to the people. The SJB is the only group in existence that is capable of this,” he claimed.