* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Friday, 30 April 2021
Welfare offices must be more conscientious ― Ravindran Raman Kutty
- APRIL 30 ― My dear friend, who is in his late sixties, was hit with a tragedy when he went for a major heart operation, resulting in two stents. While, he was recuperating from the surgery, his beloved wife had a stroke, and becomes immobile. As the saying goes “it never rains but it pours”, he has exhausted all his savings including his EPF and now the poor couple had to reach out to the welfare department to seek for financial assistance. To seek the assistance of the Welfare Ministry, he managed to download the Welfare Application Form and duly went to the Jalan Pahang welfare office to submit in January this year.
When he went to hand deliver the form at the Jalan Pahang welfare office, he was told to drop the form in a letter box. Which, my friend duly did. The problem is after four months of waiting, and making more than 20 phone calls to the Jalan Pahang welfare office, where none of the calls were answered, he went to the same office to check on the progress of his application, with his immobile wife on a wheelchair.
The officer told him, that the form is not to be submitted in Jalan Pahang but must be sent to Kajang. My poor friend, who was at the office, also witnessed several people coming into the office on wheelchairs, crutches and with heavy assistance from family members to meet the officers and check on their progress too. I was also made to understand that the Covid-19 pandemic has even made matters worse where the young and the old are out of jobs, and further burdened financially.
My friend was told that his application has been sent to Kajang welfare office and he must go there to check on the progress. The intent of this letter is to highlight to the decision makers at the Welfare Ministry, let us be more humane in managing the poor, disabled and the weak.
I suggest that there must be an officer at the counter of each welfare office in the country, where they will attend to the people who walk in. These officers will then advise the applicants or the welfare recipients on the procedures and which office they should go to, to check on the progress. By doing this, I am sure the poor person or applicant who is in distress will not be stretched further.
My dear friend had to go to the Kajang welfare office after waiting patiently for more than four months. I think this is certainly discouraging and demoralising for one who is desperate to get some form of help from our government.
The civil servants must listen intently to the grievances and rumblings of the “rakyat” and ensure every hurdle is cleared to ensure the service becomes more effective and productive. What is the reason for delaying and application for months, when the applicant is in dire needs for financial help? Why weren’t the phone calls were answered at the Jalan Pahang welfare office?
It is my utmost hope the secretary-general of the Ministry of Welfare will ensure that he visits the welfare offices at around the country to ensure that simple measures like this are instituted and implemented to make the service more humane and effective.
My poor friend is still in a lurch. Hopefully, someone from the Kajang welfare office will review his application and help him. It is a tragedy to have a heart ailment and its even worst when your life partner suffers a stroke and becomes immobile. What more distress do you need when you are ill, wife is immobile, savings wiped out and getting assistance from the welfare office is such a constraint?
Hopefully, the Ministry of Welfare will seriously consider this suggestion.
