Public assistance allowance increased

S M Wijayaratne- Kurunegala Daily News Corr

NWP's Ministry of Social Welfare, Probation and Childcare and Women's Affairs will increase the public assistance allowances paid to needy aged persons in the Kurunegala and Puttalam Districts of the NWP since 2012.

The Minister of Social Welfare of the NWP-PC Gunadasa Dehigama told the Daily News that there were nearly 67,000 persons in the NWP who are the recipients of public assistance allowances.

Earlier, these needy persons were paid only Rs 100 per month. Now they were being paid Rs 500 monthly. This increase come into effect from September this year. All arrears would be paid to them in December 2011.

However, these needy persons would be paid each Rs 1,000 monthly with effect from January 2012. Dehigama revealed these facts in an interviewed with the Daily News recently on welfare activities of the elders in the NWP by his Ministry.