State Council urges help during holidays

A State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Friday underlined the importance of guaranteeing the well-being of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and those living in hardship during the Spring Festival holidays.

The meeting urged that people’s basic living needs be ensured by guaranteeing sufficient market supplies of products such as rice, vegetables, eggs and meat, while enhancing epidemic prevention and control.

Local governments are required to make arrangements for migrant workers staying at their workplaces and students staying on campus during the holidays, while caring for left-behind elderly people and children, the meeting said.

To better guarantee people’s well-being, the meeting stressed efforts to strengthen supervision and to prevent the misappropriation of 100 billion yuan ($15.47 billion) in aid allocated by the central government.

The meeting also called for monitoring people who have just been lifted out of poverty or are living around the poverty line to make sure that those who need social relief and assistance are not left out.

Authorities should also help resolve the difficulties of vulnerable groups, including orphans and the disabled, while providing targeted assistance to people temporarily facing difficulties in life, the meeting said.

It also required that the basic quality of life of people affected by flood disasters, especially those relocated to temporary settlements, be guaranteed.