| China upgrades cost of living allowances system for rural residents |
BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China plans to upgrade and extend its system of basic cost of living allowances for rural residents, sources with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Thursday.
The government will take over management of a system that has existed for fifty years.
In the 1950s, China introduced a system of financial subsidies for the poorest people in rural areas. The system was funded by richer farmers and by collective rural work units.
In the 1990s, a similar system was set up in urban areas, focused on providing minimum wage, housing, medical care and other essential benefits for the poorest citizens.
In 1994, China started to upgrade the rural system into a fully-fledged public assistance program by issuing a regulation ordering that food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses should be provided for all rural residents who were childless or unable to work.
A solidly-established rural basic living allowance system has been a constant priority for the government, and was several times cited in the report delivered by Premier Wen Jiaobao at the annual session of the 10th National People's Congress.
The upgraded system has already been launched in 2,133 counties and county-level cities in 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and already benefits 15.09 million residents, said the report.
Funding for food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses for childless and infirm rural residents will now come principally from the government budget instead of depending on rural collectives, according to the ministry.
A total of 4.84 million rural residents with no guarantees of living cost received 4.1 billion yuan from governments at all levels in 2006, up by 1.57 million on the figure for 2005, according to the ministry.
The ministry will continue to expand the number of people who qualify for the program in the coming years. A rural medical cooperation system and compulsory education provisions will complete the architecture of the upgraded system.
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