SOCIAL WELFARE RELIEFS (Collection)

Mr Lim Cher Kheng asked the Minister for Labour and Welfare whether he is aware of the difficulties and hardships encountered by the old and sick persons in having to call personally at the Social Welfare Department for collection of their reliefs; and whether any arrangements can be made to facilitate such collections of reliefs.

Mr Lim Yew Hock: The difficulties and hardships encountered by the old and sick persons who are obliged to call at the Social Welfare Department for relief have been closely studied by this Ministry. The appointment of substitutes to receive allowances at the Social Welfare Department relieves the sick and the aged from the necessity to attend in person. Many persons already take advantage of this facility. In addition payment of Public Assistance Allowances has been undertaken in Pulau Tekong and the Western Islands for all cases regardless of their age or state of health. An experiment in decentralization of payments has been initiated, but to do this on a large scale would place a heavy burden on the public purse, since more staff would have to be engaged to undertake the extra work involved in making the payments and in the maintenance of duplicate records and a more elaborate accounting system. Proposals for extended decentralization will depend to a great extent on the recommendations of the I.L.O. expert on Social Security who has recently arrived in Singapore.