Govt subsidies not reaching truly needy

About 80 percent of qualified needy families in the rural area are not receiving subsistence allowances they are entitled to, while 60 percent of those who do get it don't meet standard criteria, according to a report release by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Friday.

The Green Book of China Social Security System is based on data collected from a survey conducted in five provinces in 2010 and 2011.

"The problems may be the result of the different levels of economic development in different areas and the lack of supervision from the central government," Yu Shaoxiang, an expert on the social security at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

The subsistence allowance policy which was implemented in 2007 nationwide, has been labeled the most important social security policy in rural China.

The average annual income of applicant family members is supposed to be under the poverty line, which is 2,300 yuan ($368). The State contributes more than half of the cost of the allowance and local governments are supposed to cover the remainder.

The report says the problems are mainly due to local governments being fully in charge of the distribution of the allowances, pointing out that a local government's fiscal health is a key to meeting the needs of locals.

"In some relatively poor provinces, it is difficult for local governments to cover all the qualified low-income families. So in some places, even if some families' incomes are under the poverty line, the local government might not have enough money to give the allowance," Yu said.

In order to solve the problems, the green book suggests the central government offer more money to poorer areas to ensure low-income families have equal opportunity to apply and receive an allowance, no matter where they live.

"The problem also exists in the verification to ensure applicants meet criteria and they are the most needy," said the Chinese academy expert, Yu.

Rural families are deemed qualified to receive subsistence allowances after their application have been approved by the local authorities, such as the village committees in most cases.

"It is possible that some applicants were turned down because they didn't have good relations with local authorities. The central government lacks supervision, which leaves the quality verification process open to nepotism and favoritism," Yu said.

The green book said the lack of controls over the qualification of applicants is a big problem, saying it is one of the reasons why so many needy families do not receive the allowance, while other families with higher incomes are receiving it.

The green book also talked about other hot issues in the development of China's social security system such as pension distribution and education expenditures.