The government admitted yesterday that Samurdhi recipients had not been paid their allowance this year and gave an assurance that they would pay the Samurdhi allowance for the first quarter of the year in March.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene gave this assurance in response to an oral question raised by UNP Hambantota District MP Sajith Premadasa in Parliament yesterday.

He said that none of the recipients had made a fuss about it and that all the arrears would be settled in March. “There is no issue as none of the recipients had protested against the non payment,” he said.

The minister said that the government was currently spending Rs.9.3 billion on Samurdhi while more than 1.5 million families benefit from it. He promised that Samurdhi officers would be made pensionable in the near future. (Yohan Perera)