PM urges tough punishment against civil servants in welfare fraud
As a new round of corruption scandals hits the government, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha today tries to demonstrate his intolerance toward the problem by declaring that state officials found implicated in an alleged embezzlement of salaries for disabled workers will be temporarily relieved, not just transferred.
He was responding to a petition submitted with National Human Rights Commission by a network for disabled people’s rights protection over alleged embezzlement of salaries paid to workers with disabilities. About 20,000 disabled workers hired for 9,500 baht a month have had their salaries deducted between 500 and 3,000 baht a month in the embezzlement scandal, said Labour Minister Pol Gen Adul Sangsingkeo, citing information from the petition.
An investigation into the alleged money embezzlement case would begin as soon as he returned to Bangkok, said Pol Gen Adul Tuesday while attending a mobile Cabinet meeting in Phetchabun.
About 5,000 disabled people weren’t aware that their names have been used to falsely claim salaries and didn’t even know they were entitled to receiving these job opportunities, he said.
Social Development and Human Security Minister Gen Anantaporn Kanjanarat said the alleged money embezzlement was likely to be a problem between the private companies and associations involved in a project aimed at training disabled workers to acquire work skills providing them a better job opportunity.
