The Welfare Benefits Board has left 1,391,830 families off the first updated Aswesuma beneficiary list, while 991,800 families qualified for the welfare payments.

The Board said 2,383,630 families had completed the information update process by 27 October 2026. Those who qualified fall under the poor and extremely poor categories.

Of the families that qualified, 363,142 are in the extremely poor category and will receive a monthly allowance of Rs. 17,500. The other 628,658 are in the poor category and will receive Rs. 10,000 a month.

The list has been displayed at Divisional Secretariat and Grama Niladhari offices and published on the Board’s website, www.wbb.gov.lk. Families that disagree with the outcome can appeal, and anyone can object to the inclusion of another household.

Appeals and public objections can be submitted from 29 October to 11 November 2026 through eservices.wbb.gov.lk, or on application forms available on the Board’s website and at the relevant Divisional Secretariat offices. Public objections may be submitted anonymously.

Background

Aswesuma is the government’s welfare benefits programme for low-income households, and it replaced the earlier Samurdhi scheme. Eligibility is decided on the information each family supplies, which is why the Board ran an update exercise before issuing this list.

The figures show the scale of that exercise. More than 2.38 million families completed the update, and fewer than half of them qualified under the two categories that receive payments.

The Board has said this is the first of at least two updated lists. It expects to publish a second list in December, based on information relating to a further 740,127 families.

What it means

Families on the list can expect their first payments on 27 November 2026, when the money is due to be credited to their Aswesuma bank accounts. Newly eligible beneficiaries will need an account to receive it, and letters to help them open one will be issued from 12 November.

Families that were not selected have a fortnight to challenge the decision. Anyone who believes a household has been wrongly included can also raise an objection during the same period, without giving their name.

Households still waiting for a decision should note that the Board’s second list is planned for December. Beneficiaries and applicants can check the status of a household on the Board’s website or at their Divisional Secretariat office.