Weaponising poverty
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Woken up at 6 a.m. by a call on Thursday. Who was calling at this ungodly hour? It was Arty, the intrepid entrepreneur.“Hello….hello, I hope I didn’t wake you up,” he said, excitedly. How could I disappoint him when he appeared to have something interesting to say?
“No, it’s fine. I was about to wake up anyway to write my column. What’s cooking,” I asked. “Well I saw a very ‘disturbing’ comment by an opposition MP and wanted to share it with you,” he said.
“What is it?” I asked, now interested by his excitement. “This MP was speaking on TV after he was drawn into a controversy over a lottery issue where some agents had failed to settle their dues. It appears he had given many letters (while he was in the government) to relatives and friends for appointments as lottery agents and he said, very firmly, that he would continue to give such letters,” he said.
“Oops…..didn’t he realise that this type of behaviour could border on corruption and he was openly acknowledging it,” I asked. “That’s my point. He said this – addressing the media mind you – as if MPs have a right to use their influence to appoint their cronies and supporters to these positions. He also asks the media what is wrong with it,” he said. “This is the level to which politicians have sunk to,” I said.
This is the bane of society – MPs abusing their position of privilege. For example, dozens of letters are doled out by politicians to friends and relatives for various government jobs, appointments and eligibility to social protection schemes. I was reminded of this by recent comments by a World Bank delegation, urging the authorities for “better” targeting of recipients of the country’s main poverty alleviation scheme – Aswesuma (earlier known as Samurdhi).
It seems that as long as there is poverty in the country, politicians will thrive. These schemes have been weaponised in recent times and exploited for political gain. If you are a government supporter and live above the poverty line, your local MP will somehow get you into the scheme even if you are not entitled to this dole; but if you are an opposition supporter and eligible for financial support your name will be struck off the list.
According to an October 27 report in the Daily Mirror, during a discussion in a parliamentary committee room, World Bank representatives had reportedly stressed the need to establish a comprehensive data system for social security that would enable the accurate identification of ‘genuinely poor and vulnerable individuals and families’.
“…..The mere inclusion of citizens’ information in the database would not automatically qualify them as Aswesuma beneficiaries. Instead, the data must be verified and analysed to correctly identify those eligible for relevant benefits,” the report said, adding that these observations were made during a meeting with members of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
The World Bank in the past too has repeatedly questioned the accuracy of data and that of recipients in these programmes saying many people, not entitled to such benefits, are included in the programme. In a 2022 report, the bank said the main social assistance programmes were affected by significant exclusion and inclusion errors in 2019.
The report said that just under 49 per cent of households in the poorest ‘quintile’ received social assistance, while 12 per cent of the richest quintile also received a transfer, indicating that there are some inclusion errors (quintile is defined as “any of five equal groups into which a population can be divided according to the distribution of values of a particular variable”).
The bank reported that the 2021-22 economic crisis is estimated to have doubled the poverty rate in the country, from 13.1 to 25.6 per cent, increasing the number of poor people by 2.7 million.
In a 2023 newspaper article, Economics Prof. Gamini Herath said: “The poverty elimination programmes have failed in Sri Lanka as decades-long experience on poverty alleviation shows. Poverty elimination programmes such as ‘Samurdhi’ and ‘Aswesuma’ were never clearly defined and achievements were dubious. The failure of the most recent Aswesuma welfare programme and Samurdhi occurred due to blatant political use of these programmes, selection bias and elimination of many beneficiaries,” he said.
While Sri Lanka is struggling to contain its poverty levels, some interesting news on poverty has been reported from Sri Lanka’s neighbour, India.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Kerala has declared itself extreme-poverty free, the first state in India to do so. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than US$ 2.15 per day (Sri Lanka rupees 655).
It is reported that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had formally announced in the state assembly that the state has eradicated extreme poverty. The LDF government claimed Kerala is the first state in India to do so. This comes after the state government launched the Extreme Poverty Alleviation Project in 2021 and identified 64,006 families as “extremely poor”. These families then became beneficiaries of a four-year-long project with the objective of eliminating extreme poverty in the state, the newspaper said.
Taking a break from the ‘poverty discussion’, I walked to the kitchen and was happy that Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, had come down the lane. There, on the kitchen table was a couple of hot ‘maalu paans’. Picking up one and also my second mug of tea, I could hear the conversation of the trio under the margosa tree.
“Viruddha paksha loku raliyak thiyanna yanawa mae maasey (The opposition is planning a big rally this month),” said Serapina. “Egollanta senaga godak eyida (Will they get a big crowd)?” asked Mabel Rasthiyadu. “Lankawe prashnayak thama viruddha paksha haema dama aanduwa vivechanaya karanawa. Egollo hithanawa eka egollang karanna avashya dae kiyala. Aei egollanta aanduwata sahaya denna beri aanduwa hari dae karana welawata (The problem in Sri Lanka is that opposition parties eternally criticise the government, thinking that this is their role. Why can’t they support the government when the right things are being done?” asked Kussi Amma Sera.
Returning to the discussion about the politician who believed that doling out letters seeking benefits for his relatives and supporters is the right thing to do, this strongly suggests that politicians will never learn. They believe that their position elevates them to a God-given right of doing anything, even if it borders on corruption!
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