Welfare opened to disabled and elderly
New registration will run into next month
The government has allowed additional low-income earners, mainly the disabled, elderly and bedridden patients, to register for the state-sponsored subsidy and welfare scheme.
The new registration is scheduled from May to June, with 1 million additional low-income earners expected to register.
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong yesterday said the cabinet approved an Interior Ministry proposal to allow low-income earners who failed to register for the programme last year to do so.
He said the government has yet to estimate the budget to finance the new registrants.
Nathporn Chatusripitak, an adviser to the PM’s Office Minister, said eligible registrants must be over 18, with an annual income not exceeding 100,000 baht.
People who were disqualified during last year’s registration are ineligible.
“New registrants are expected to be able to use the state-subsidised welfare cards within this October, while the government expects to allocate budget in fiscal 2019 to finance the new registrants,” he said.
Mr Nathporn said the new registrants will also be eligible to attend training skill development programmes organised by the government.
The government has already allocated a total of 60 billion baht to fund the government’s welfare and subsidy scheme for the poor, said Mr Apisak.
In August l ast year, the cabinet approved the first phase of the aid package, worth 41.9 billion baht, for 11.4 million low-income earners — 5.3 million of whom have income below the poverty line of 30,000 baht a year.
To encourage the aid scheme’s recipients to learn job skills, the government provides an additional living allowance of 100-200 baht a month to buy goods at Thong Fah Pracha Rat shops, on top of the 200-300 baht given under the first phase.
The cabinet in January this year approved 35.7 billion baht for the second phase of the welfare scheme, aiming to raise 1 million people out of poverty.
Some of 5.3 million out of 11.4 million recipients of the government’s welfare and subsidy scheme are living below the national poverty line, earning less than 30,000 baht a year.
Mr Nathporn said at yesterday’s cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered the Finance and Commerce ministries to speed up the new registrations so the disabled and the elderly, in particular, can buy daily goods at Thong Fah Pracha Rat low-cost shops.