Samurdhi Programme as a Poverty Alleviation Strategy: An Evaluation Study Based on Sri Bodhi Gramma Village in Gampaha District in Sri Lanka

R. L S. Fernando (), H. O. C. Gunasekara and H. K. S. Gunasekara
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R. L S. Fernando: University of Sri Jayewardenepura
H. O. C. Gunasekara: University of Sri Jayewardenepura
H. K. S. Gunasekara: National Institute of Social Development

Chapter 3 in Building Sustainable Communities, 2020, pp 47-74 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Sri Lanka has been experiencing poverty for the last several decades and several strategies have been initiated by the successive governments to address the issue of poverty. The Samurdhi programme as one of the national programmes in the country. It was initiated in the mid-1990s to address the issue of poverty and the programme has been implemented nearly for 30 years. This study examines the effectiveness of the Samurdhi programme. With the use of qualitative research methods, an exploratory study was done in relation to a particular village, Sri Bodhi Gramma, in Sri Lanka. A purposive sample was selected from the villagers including both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the programme. Semi-structured in-depth discussions were conducted to gather the required data and descriptive methods were used to analyse the data. It was revealed that mal-targeting, lack of commitment of the officers, lack of awareness about the programme, political interference, absence of meeting ultimate results of the programme, and introducing inappropriate sub-programmes under the Samurdhi programme were identified as main issues. The effectiveness of the Samurdhi programme is not at a satisfactory level. Only very limited benefits have been transferred to the Samurdhi beneficiaries even though there are various services being implemented by the programme. Finally, policy guidelines were proposed to overcome these issues in improving the effectiveness of the programme.

Keywords: Samurdhi programme; Poverty alleviation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-15-2393-9_3

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-2393-9_3

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