AMN / WEB DESK
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved the proposal of President Ranil Wickremasinghe to provide 10 kilograms of rice per month to 2 million low-income families. The decision has been taken to ensure food security for 2 months.
This move will also cover beneficiaries of the island’s national development programme for poverty alleviation, Samurdhi. The total estimated cost is 8,040 million rupees which includes 6,200 million rupees for the purchase of 61,000 MT of paddy.
The programme will be implemented by District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries with the assistance of small and medium-scale paddy mills. Rice will be distributed among the identified Samurdhi beneficiaries including low-income earners using the existing system. Ministry of Women, Child Affairs, and Social Empowerment will coordinate the District Secretaries and issue necessary instructions to them.