1 Sri Lanka: Strengthening Social Protection Presented at the Workshop on Social Protection 27 th September, 2006 By Hemachandra Ranathunga, Additional Secretary Coping with Risk: Social Safety Nets Comments from the Ministry of Samurdhi and PA

2 Under Samurdhi income transfer program commodities and encashment stamps, micro- insurance and Housing lottery contributions are distributed ranging from Rs. 155 to 1500 from the Treasury allocations while micro credit facilities are from the Samurdhi Banking Societies. Overview of Social Safety Net Interventions

3 Samurdhi Relief Program 2006 Clarification of Categories Categories of Stamps (Rs.) No of Beneficiary Families Categories of Stamps* (Rs.) No of Beneficiary Families* Empowered155194, ,926 Single Person250180, ,706 2 member families350221, ,213 Janasavi415331, members615427, ,130 over 5 members10156, ,595 * 50% stamp value increased under the Mahinda Chinthana Program in 113 poorest D.S.Divisions Total allocation for 2006 is Rs. 12,200 Mn. for Mn. families

4 Mission  Samurdhi beneficiaries are being selected by Samurdhi Development Officers. But selection criteria are not successful due to political and other personal interventions  The DCS declares that 47.4 % of families from 1 st income Decile (the average household income per month is Rs. 2,123) are not Samurdhi recipients while 2.4% of families from 10 th Dicile (the average income per month is Rs. 47,959)are Samurdhi recipients.  The suggested criteria by the Welfare Benefit Board (WBB) are also not successful because geographical and sectoral differences have not been taken into account and also implementations are not adhered to the Act. The formula-based criteria are meant for the entire island but the situation is not so. Samurdhi Income Transfer Programme

5 Mission  Therefore, followed by the request made by the Hon. Minister of Samurdhi & PA the Ministry of Finance has issued instructions not to carry out selection of Samurdhi beneficiaries until further notice.  Meanwhile The Ministry of Samurdhi & PA has launched a PRA based beneficiary selection procedure on pilot basis followed by the experiences from World Bank funded VISHLI project (in Polonaruwa District) and Gemidiriya Project.  Under this exercise the selection criteria and also selection of families will be decided by villagers/village leaders themselves and it will be transparent. Samurdhi officials will be facilitators in this context. Samurdhi Income Transfer Programme

6  Safety nets should become “safety ropes”. This is fully agreeable. But, currently some how it is a “safety trap”. Some other benefits such as special considerations for school entrance, special attention to get in to govt. employments (eg. Teaching) etc. will help beneficiaries to remain in the Samurdhi programme even after they are empowered.  If the Welfare Benefits Act will be in action, it is suggested to be amended drastically to reflect the actual requirements and dimensions of the poor. Reforming Safety Nets

7 Strengthening administration of the Samurdhi Program  Implementation of Database Management system is vital. Particularly it should be an interactive Web based system which is accessed by (at the first stage) Divisional secretaries, District Secretaries and other relevant officials on line. The following components should be included into it.  Beneficiary profile  Project monitoring  HRM  Financial monitoring  Entire Samurdhi program is administered by around 26,000 samurdhi officials. They should be facilitators rather than administrators. This transformation may be achieved by regular but formal comprehensive training modules.  The World Bank assistance is anticipated here. Reforming Safety Nets

8 Combating child malnutrition  It has been introduced under “Mahinda Chintana” program to combat child malnutrition through pregnant and lactating mothers by giving a nutrition package (Rs.500 worth commodities) within a period of 20 months and glass of milk to children within the age group of 2 to 5 years with the technical assistance of the Ministry of Health care and Nutrition. This is now being implemented on pilot basis.  It is envisaged to introduce formal home gardening system so that beneficiaries can grow and produce what ever the nutritional items such as vegetables, fruits, eggs and other relevant things enabling them to gain additional income other than the nutritional supplement.  The World Bank assistance is also envisaged in this regard. Reforming Safety Nets

9 Samurdhi Social Security Program CategoryPayments up to end of onwards Death5,00010,000 Hospitalized1,5001,500 * Marriage3000 ** 1000 *** 3,000 ** 1,000 *** Birth2,500 # 1,000 ## 5,000 # 2,500 ## * Rs.50/- per day, Maximum 30 days ** Marriage of the Beneficiary ***Marriage of the Other member of Beneficiary Family #Maiden Birth ##Second Birth

10  The above shown social security program shows you insufficient amounts of allowances given and limited structure of the program  Therefore, it is suggested to combine this program with the Sri Lanka Social Security Board so that mutual benefits could be achieved by both programs.  Why, more attractive terms enjoyed by most of people in this country with the private sector insurance organizations, not be given to the Samurdhi beneficiaries ? Reforming Safety Nets

11 Thank you for your attention !