About two million applicants who missed out on the state welfare card program are likely to be included after all, now that the Land Transport Department has decided to waive the condition pertaining to ownership of cars which are more than 20 years old and motorcycles over 15 years old, Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat said today.
About two million applicants for the welfare card program were not qualified to receive the state welfare benefit because of their vehicle ownership. About 200,000 failed applicants have appealed the decision, claiming that their vehicles are already out of order.
To address this problem, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, in his capacity as the interior minister, has instructed the Provincial Administration Department to establish a one-stop service centre in all districts to accept such appeals.
Earlier, the government had attempted to limit the number of state welfare card holders to about 10 million due to budgetary constraints, but about 18 million people applied for the program.
Welfare card holders are regarded as poor and exempted from the ‘Thai Chuay Thai Plus’ program, under which each recipient is entitled to a 1,000 baht monthly subsidy for four months from June.
Each state welfare card holder is entitled to a 300-baht monthly welfare payment, an 80-baht cooking gas payment for three months and 750 baht per month for travel expense.
