Families hit hard by Covid get cash assistance in June
THE Ministry of Planning has requested local authorities to complete the identification of families faced with hardship from Covid-19 by May 25 so families who pass a screening interview for financing can be paid in the first week of June.
At a meeting on May 21, planning minister Chhay Than suggested that municipal and provincial governors advise local authorities to accelerate the process.
“[Authorities] must transparently finish the identification of affected families so that the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation can prepare a budget and pay money to families who pass the interview,” he said.
The government last week issued a press release on the launch of “Social Protection Cash after the Lockdown” to support low-income families and households faced with hardships. Cash will also be delivered to families whose relatives died or were infected with Covid-19.
The ministry has prepared documentation to identify families and prepared a list of interview questions. There is also an app for collecting data.
“The planning ministry has closely cooperated with the Phnom Penh Municipal Hall and two provinces – Kandal and Preah Sihanouk – to begin the interviews on May 25,” Than said.
Social affairs ministry spokesman Samheng Boros told The Post on May 23 that the work could not be completed by May 25 as authorities had been busy working on the vaccination programme. The work will be postponed.
“We will deliver cash to people
who experience hardships in the first or the second week of June. In addition to taking people’s statistics, authorities and local workers have to do a lot of work including vaccinations, consider people’s safety and solve food shortages,” he said.
The government, through the planning ministry, has launched three programmes – health equity fund, cash payments for pregnant women and children under two years old, and poor people affected by the pandemic.