Welfare is Not Begging so Stop Shaming the Poor

Photo courtesy of The Federal When Industries Minister Sunil Handunnetti declared that aswesuma beneficiaries “should be ashamed” and called the cash transfer scheme “like begging legally,” he did more than outrage a large section of the public; he exposed a dangerous misunderstanding of what social welfare is, who pays for it and why a modern state must protect its vulnerable citizens. His remarks reduce complex social and economic policy to a moral sermon and risk distracting the country from two vital discussions Sri Lanka urgently needs to have: how to make welfare more effective and how to fund it fairly.…

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