Red tape stops disabled from getting monthly allowance
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PETALING JAYA: Bureaucratic red tape has apparently caused many disabled people to lose their monthly welfare allowances.
A man from the B40 income group, Kumar Nadeson, complains that his allowance has been cut off because he failed to fill up a yearly review form to confirm his eligibility.
He was unaware of the requirement and the Welfare Department cancelled the allowance without making any investigation, according to G Francis Siva, president of the Independent Living and Training Centre.
Siva told FMT the review form was a feature of an SOP the government put in place a few years ago to ensure that those receiving allowances are truly eligible. This followed reports of leakage of funds.
All disabled persons are now required to fill up the form every year, but Siva said many were still unaware of the requirement and claimed that there had been no effort to inform the recipients.
He said welfare officers should conduct door-to-door visits on the disabled to check on their availability in person.
He called the SOP a form of discrimination and alleged that welfare officers had not visited the recipients to check on their condition before cancelling their allowances.
“Most of them can’t fill up the forms or even go to the welfare office because there is no proper public transportation for them,” he said, adding that many could not afford taxis or e-hailing services.
He urged Rina Harun, the minister of women, family and community development, to set up a meeting with stakeholders immediately to come up with solutions.
Choo Siew Cheong, assistant executive director of the National Council for the Blind, said the blind saw no point in complaining about the procedure.
He said: “What’s the point of complaining? If you complain, you may not even get the allowance back.”
He recommended an overhaul of the system governing the dispensing of welfare aid.
“It’s time we look at the current system honestly and see if we are really helping to support people with disabilities,” he said.
He urged the government to consider employing officers to go door-to-door to check on the eligibility status of the disabled, identify the deserving cases and adjust the amounts given according to the severity of disability.
The government could end up saving money by doing so, he said.
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