Handicapped people lay claim to cash handouts
Around 50 representatives from Disabilities Thailand, Thailand Association of the Blind, Association for the Mentally Ill of Thailand, and other organisations related to handicapped people submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Finance, claiming the right to receive the government's Bt5,000 handout amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The relief payments scheme offers eligible citizens Bt5,000 per month for three months. To be eligible, candidates must be Thai nationals aged over 18, be self-employed, freelancers or non-permanent employees who are not covered under the social security system.
People with disability have not been included among the 2 million considered eligible for the handouts. The disabled have also not been included in the scheme’s third phase, confirming that the disabled people and their families had been left out.
The associations of disabled people wanted the government to change the scheme’s conditions, by scrapping the screening process in order to make the remedial cash as accessible as possible to suffering people nationwide.
They urged the government to reduce electricity bills for households of all disabled people for three months, regardless of the size of the meter. The associations also requested the government to allow the disabled to receive their 10-month allowances in advance.
Furthermore, they said the Comptroller-General’s Department should hasten the transfer of Bt1,000 from the fund for the disabled to everyone having a disability card.
Finance Ministry permanent secretary Prasong Phunthanes received their proposals. He said the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security is considering remedial measures for the disabled.