New Social Registry MIS to reduce welfare cost in Sri Lanka

Apr 24, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s newly developed Social Registry – Management Information System (MIS) is expected to reduce the welfare cost of the government by eliminating the duplication of beneficiaries. Releasing a statement, Policy Development Office said this new system will also be beneficial to the policy makers in developing evidence-based policies for social empowerment. It is expected to utilize the information collected under the social registry to further develop the Sri Lanka’s social protection programme under the Social Safety Nets Project (SSNP) funded by the World Bank. Currently the system contains information related to beneficiaries of 24 welfare programmes under 12 government institutions funded by the government. All the district level demographic information of the beneficiaries are available for access by the public on http://socialregistry.gov.lk/. Policy Development Office said steps are being taken to eliminate the duplicated data entered in the system. As per an initiative taken by the National Policies & Economic Affairs Ministry in 2015, the Department of Project management and Monitoring (DPMM) has taken steps to develop a social registry. It is a Management Information System on social welfare programmes implemented under the government. This MIS has been developed by Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) with the coordination and support from DPMM and Policy Development Office of the Prime Minister’s Office.