The cabinet has approved a new round of registrations for state welfare cards with 14.6 million low-income earners meeting the criteria and eligible for benefits.
The popular programme was launched more than a decade ago to provide fairness to low-income earners and there were criteria for welfare cardholders, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday after the cabinet approved the new round.
Each round of registrations requires tens of billons of baht in public funds and checking the eligibility of applicants can be time-consuming. Many people are approved and others may not be, he said.
About 19.6 million people have registered under the welfare scheme and 14.6 million have qualified, according to Anucha Burapachaisri, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister and government spokesman. The cabinet has approved 9.14 billion baht for the scheme, he added.
Eligible registrants will now have to undergo a verification process starting from March 1. Those who can successfully verify themselves by March 26 will be able to start using their cards on April 1, said the spokesman.
The dates for verification and use of cards are as follows:
- Those verified by April 26 can start using cards on May 1;
- Those verified by May 26 can start using cards on June 1;
- Those verified by June 26 can start using cards on July 1; and
- Those verified by July 26 can start using cards on Aug 1.
The 5.05 million people who did not pass the initial screening can appeal from March 1 to May 1. Appeal results will be known on June 20, said the spokesman.
Eligible cardholders must be Thai citizens, aged 18 or older, with an income of less than 100,000 baht per person, per year. The average household income for registrants must not exceed 100,000 baht per year per person.
Registrants with an annual income of less than 30,000 baht are given 300 baht per month, while those with an income of between 30,000 and 100,000 baht receive 200 baht per month.
Increasing welfare benefits is a key campaign promise of some of the parties campaigning for the coming election.
At a rally in Nakhon Ratchasima last weekend, Gen Prayut said his United Thai Nation (UTN) Party would raise benefits to 1,000 baht per month.
Gen Prayut’s brother-in-arms and rival prime ministerial candidate, Prawit Wongsuwon, has already been nicknamed Loong Jet Roi for his Palang Pracharath Party’s pledge to raise the benefit to 700 baht.
- Editorial: ‘Poor cards’ not a solution
