1.4 billion baht approved for newborn babies

BANGKOK, June 6 (TNA) – The Cabinet on Tuesday approved additional 1.4 billion baht for newborn babies in poor families and the payment will be ready for entitled families on June 20. Director-General of the Department of Children and Youth, Vitat Techaboon, said that monthly allowance under the Child Support Grant programme has not paid since April. The department sought the budget to cover the period until the end of 2018 budget year in September. More than 450,000 babies are eligible to receive 600 baht a month under the aid scheme. The payment will be made with retrospective effect. About 80,000 eligible families, who have not yet registered for the subsidy, can apply for the subsidy until September 30. One of the criteria for eligible babies is that the income per capita of their households with is less than 3,000 baht per month. The director-general said the budget of the child subsidy programme is about 0.08 of GDP, which is considered not high, compared to other basic welfare programmes. The aid scheme for babies is worthwhile investment. (TNA)