Cabinet okays expansion of ‘Rao Chana’ scheme
The cabinet yesterday approved expanding the coverage of the “Rao Chana” (We Win) financial aid scheme to an additional 2.4 million people and also extended the deadline to spend a 7,000-baht cash handout to June 30.
The target market in this expansion aims to cover people without smartphones, bedridden patients, the disabled and the elderly.
The scheme’s expansion is estimated to cost 3.04 billion baht in government spending, raising the number of eligible recipients to 33.5 million and total government outlay to 213 billion baht from 210 billion.
Approved by the cabinet on Jan 19, the Rao Chana scheme offers 7,000 baht per person over two months to 31.1 million people affected by the pandemic.
However, the scheme does not cover social security subscribers, government officials or state enterprise employees.
Eligible recipients must meet the stated criteria for annual income and savings. Those with an annual income exceeding 300,000 baht or savings of more than 500,000 baht as of Dec 31 last year do not qualify.
Some 13.7 million holders of state welfare cards are automatically eligible to receive help under the scheme.
Kulaya Tantitemit, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said the ministry proposed the expansion for people who need special assistance to register for the scheme, such as those without smartphones and bedridden patients.
According to the Finance Ministry, as of yesterday 32.8 million people were registered for the We Win scheme.
Of the total, 13.7 million have been identified as state welfare cardholders, 16.8 million are those participating in the co-payment subsidy scheme and We Travel Together tourism campaign under the “Pao Tang” app database, as well as the general public who registered via www.Á¦µ³.com.
People who need special assistance and have already passed the screening process make up the remainder of the amount.
In a related development, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government is considering the possibility of continuing consumption stimulus schemes that are about to expire, such as the copayment scheme.