Samurdhi helps bring down poverty level
by Uditha KUMARASINGHE
The Samurdhi program has achieved remarkable progress in alleviating
poverty among low income groups and helped bring down the country’s
poverty level to 15 percent.
 The
Samurdhi program has made a direct impact on reducing the poverty level
in the country. When the Samurdhi Movement was launched in 1995 the
country’s poverty level was 28.8 percent. According to Central Bank
reports, the poverty level had been reduced to 15 percent at present due
to the effectiveness of the poverty alleviation mechanism launched by
the Samurdhi Movement, a spokesman for the Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority
(SLSA) told the Sunday Observer.
He said that a large number of Samurdhi beneficiary families who have
been socio-economically empowered by the various livelihood development
projects introduced by the SLSA has returned their Samurdhi coupons to
the Government, which is evidence of the Samurdhi contribution to
ameliorate their living conditions. This has helped reduce the number of
Samurdhi beneficiaries from 1.9 million to 1.6 million.
He said that the Government through the 1,042 Samurdhi Banks set up
throughout the country has formed an effective network to cater to the
needs of the poor. At present, Samurdhi Banks have been ranked fourth
among the micro finance institutions in the world, which is a victory
for the poor.
Samurdhi Banks have granted credit facilities to a large number of
Samurdhi beneficiaries to overcome their socio-economic hardships and
launched various income generation projects. According to the spokesman
3,971,843 Samurdhi loans to the value of over Rs. 54,410 million have
been granted to the needy. Moreover, 9,361,762 Samurdhi beneficiaries
have saved Rs.31,623 million in Samurdhi Banks under various accounts.
Another significant feature is that Samurdhi Banks have maintained a 94
percent high loan repayment.
“No Government in the world has established a key network of this
nature to deal with poverty. Therefore, the mechanism created by the
Samurdhi Banks to alleviate poverty is practical and an example to the
entire world.
In a world where poverty is increasing, the reverse trend in Sri
Lanka is quite encouraging and satisfying”, he said. |
