The Participatory Government's administration of welfare is taking steps backwards. According to figures released by Grand National Party (GNP) member of the National Assembly Jeon Jae Hee, of the 67 welfare programs that have been transferred to regional governments there has been only 85 percent of the needed budget secured. That means only W1.1371 trillion of the needed W1.3290 trillion is available for those governments. That being so it is inevitable that welfare programs are not going to be implemented properly, and that the handicapped, elderly, parent-less homes and other weak segments in our society will suffer the consequences.
The reason the situation has come to this is primarily because the national government's sharing of tax revenues with local governments is less than it used to be, and then also because local governments have not been proactive in organizing their welfare budgets. In addition there is a bid discrepancy in the level of financial independence of local governments. Seoul and other places adequate funds have close to 100 percent of what they need, whereas North Gyeongsang, Gangwon, North Jeolla, and South Jeolla have only 70 to 80 percent of the funds they need. The situation is even more serious because it looks like the discrepancy will only grow larger with time. There are about to be "first" and "second" class citizens as far as welfare benefits are concerned, depending on what region people live in.
Until last year all those programs were funded from the National Treasury and so there were no problems getting the needed budget funds. It is the trend and desirable to transfer authority from the central government to local ones, but it should be a matter of course that there first be through preparation and budget guarantees. There urgently needs to be measures implemented that will make the needed budget funds available and eliminate the gap between regions.
In the days when the country had a hard time feeding itself welfare for the weak on society was never a priority. Now governments are working to improve how welfare is done. It was not too long ago when a child starved to death in a wardrobe and a handicapped individual responsible for feeding his family committed suicide over a few hundred thousand Won. There are man cases where people never receive attention. The state of a country's welfare for the weak in society is how you measure its culture, and we again stress that the obligation to assist such people lies with the national and regional governments.
The Hankyoreh, 19 April 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
When Welfare Programs go to Local Governments |
