As a part of their COVID-19 relief plan, the Kachin State government will give 30,000 kyat (US$22) each to more than 7,600 people with disabilities in the state.
According to the state’s social welfare, relief, and resettlement ministry, the assistance will be distributed during the last week of August through three district offices and is a joint effort between the ministry, parliamentarians, and local organizations.
That Hlaing Tun, director of the social welfare ministry in Kachin State, said that if necessary, funds will be transferred through township General Administration Departments.
“We will provide more than 200 million kyat [in total],” he told KNG. The amount is equal to $146,944.
The director said it was the second time assistance had been provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some people with disabilities say that they have not received any aid so far.
“I heard that some elderly people got assistance during the COVID-19 period. We disabled people still haven’t gotten it as of today,” Zung Sawng, chairperson of the Kachin State Disabled People’s Association, told KNG. “If possible, we want the government to provide assistance to disabled people as soon as possible,” he said, emphasizing that people with disabilities were facing extra difficulties during this period.
Zung Sawng recommended that all people in Kachin State with disabilities have their names added to a list for respective ward and village headmen.
Kachin State’s official statistics for people with disabilities have grown in recent years, from 3,000 in 2018 to now more than 7,000.
Thet Hlaing Tun said that his ministry has already surveyed the people in need.
“We provided assistance to disabled people in 2017 – 2018. We have basic information about them. The number of disabled people has increased in Kachin State,” he told KNG. “I don’t think any disabled persons are missing from our current list.”
