Public anger over excessively strict eligibility criteria for the state welfare card scheme, which left millions of impoverished people out in the cold, is the latest issue draining support for the Anutin government. Faced with criticism from all sides -- not to mention heartbreaking reports of poverty-stricken people being disqualified from the programme -- the government quickly backpedalled.
It was found that unrealistic rules and a flawed verification system resulted in more than nine million people being excluded from the scheme. Worse, the blunder reflects poor policy coordination, bureaucratic inefficiency and the lack of a comprehensive and reliable state database.
