Review sees 1.85m lose State benefits

More than 1.85 million rural recipients of the basic living allowance were disqualified from the program between June and September, a Ministry of Civil Affairs official said on Thursday.

The disqualifications were part of an ongoing review of the State benefits program intended to combat misuse of the funds.

Over the same period, 1.2 million needy farmers who had fallen out of the benefits net were included in the program, along with 79,000 people identified as impoverished, said Liu Xitang, director of the ministry’s department of social relief.

Liu said 182 local officials were held accountable for inaccuracies in granting the allowances.

“The allowance plays a vital role in relieving the most impoverished population in the poverty reduction campaign,” he told a news conference in Beijing.

Liu added it was a relief measure saved “till the last minute”.

Jiang Wei, deputy-director of the department of social relief, said they have taken several measures to curb misuse of funds, including publicizing more than 3,000 complaint hotlines at provincial and municipal levels.

Jiang said 32 inspection teams have been sent to the “most problematic” regions.

The basic living allowance is granted to low-income people to meet essential needs. But the program has been abused in some places, with recipients having family ties to the officials allocating the funds.

According to the ministry, almost 43 million people were receiving the allowance by the end of September. On average, the allowance is 617 yuan ($87) a month for urban residents, or 5,247 yuan a year for their rural counterparts.

More than 116 billion yuan was paid to recipients in the first nine months of this year, the ministry said.