The Ministry of Civil Affairs Thursday pledged to further
improve the minimum living subsidy mechanism to ensure poor urban
residents receive necessary help under new circumstances, such as
price fluctuations.
Minister of Civil Affairs Li Xueju urged local civil affairs
departments to keep a close watch on the impact of price
fluctuations on the lives of registered recipients for the minimum
living allowance.
The minimum living subsidy program, a new system differing from
the traditional social welfare measures in the old planned economy
era, was first launched in Shanghai
in 1993 to help needy urban people on a regular basis with fixed
assistance funds.
It swept across urban areas during the late 1990s, when large
numbers of workers were laid off from state-owned enterprises.
Over 22.4 million urban residents were registered as recipients
of the minimum living allowance last year. The payments of
subsidies across China totaled 15.1 billion yuan (US$1.8
billion).
The ministry has now told local civil affairs departments to
raise allowances in accordance with local economic development,
price jumps and changes in consumption levels to ensure that basic
living standards for poor urban residents do not fall.
An urgent notice issued by the General Office of the State
Council earlier this month on food supply also instructed local
governments to adjust as necessary the standard of the urban
minimum living subsidy.
The ministry asked local departments to form a flexible standard
of minimum living subsidy, so that state funds go to people who
really need help.
The poorest citizens or laid-off workers and their relatives
constitute the majority of urban recipients. Most of them are in
northeast, central and west China, the old industrial and mining
bases.
The number of recipients exceeded 1 million in each of the
provinces, according to a report from the ministry.
Criteria for the minimum living allowance vary from region to
region in line with local economic development. For example,
childless and elderly subjects can receive annual per capita
allowances of 1,000 yuan (US$120) in Guangdong, one of the
wealthiest provinces. The figure becomes 240 yuan (US$29) to 600
yuan (US$72) further inland, with lower figures more prevalent in
the western region.
The ministry requires local departments to link the allowance
mechanism with other social security mechanisms and reemployment
efforts.
It also calls on local officials to streamline management and
enhance supervision of subsidy allocations, with strict procedures
in place at every step from application to investigation and
approval and the final provision of allowances.
(China Daily March 26, 2004)