More than 100 households had to return Covid-19 support money

On November 20, Mr. Le Quy Don, Chairman of Phuong Duc commune, said that in the area there are 455 poor and near-poor households receiving support for difficulties due to Covid-19;

However, an inspection by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in August discovered that in Phuong Duc commune, there were 115 families that did not meet the standards of poor and near-poor households.

Xuan La village in Phuong Duc commune has a total of 183 poor and near-poor households benefiting from the above policy;

Mr. Nam’s family has been approved for poor households since 2016. That year he was sick and had surgery, and every month he had a check-up at the district hospital.

Mr. Chu Van Nam, one of the households who had to return Covid-19 support money in Phuong Duc commune.

Explaining about not meeting the criteria for being in a near-poor household after being `scored` by the inspector, the 65-year-old man said that he and his wife have not separated from their son’s family.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuong, Secretary of Xuan La village, is the person who compiled the list of poor and near-poor households in October 2019.

Mr. Tuong admitted that there were `errors` in putting some households with sick people on the list of near-poor households.

`The village is flexible enough to include them so they can enjoy insurance, reducing difficulties when someone in the house is sick or ill. There is no way I would put households on this list to pay for it,` Mr. Tuong affirmed.

Mr. Pham Van Nam, officer in charge of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Phuong Duc commune, explained that the `error` was due to the list of poor and near-poor households being transferred from the village to the commune for approval.

Regarding the fact that some families with three-story houses, fully furnished, are still on the list of near-poor households in the commune, according to Mr. Nam, because the criteria for scoring poor and near-poor households, applied since 2016, are not clearly specified.

Inspectors of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs have verified 4,263 poor and near-poor households in the entire Phu Xuyen district.

Phu Xuyen district leaders were asked to clarify whether `there are manifestations of personal gain or not` in recognizing poor and near-poor households for handling;

In April, the Government deployed a 62,000 billion welfare package, the four earliest beneficiary groups were people with meritorious services to the revolution, people receiving social protection, poor and near-poor households;

In the process of paying Covid-19 support money in some localities, poor households did not receive money, while better-off households were on the support list.

In Thanh Hoa, officials, because of their achievements, mobilized people to sign a voluntary form not to receive support, putting ineligible family members on the list of poor households.