The government has ordered each province and all 50 Bangkok districts to design projects to assist low-income earners and address poverty in the country in fiscal 2022 and 2023.
Speaking after yesterday's meeting of the anti-poverty committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, Wanchat Suwankitti, deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), said the government has ordered each province and each district of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to design aid projects for low-income earners and poor people nationwide.
The provinces and the Bangkok districts are also required to establish a centre to tackle poverty nationwide.
The projects will be financially sponsored by the central fiscal budgets.
Mr Wanchat said the spread of Covid-19 for almost two years has brought about rising unemployment, leading most jobless workers to return home to provincial areas.
According to Mr Wanchat, the provinces and Bangkok districts are also required to identify the number of unemployed people, low-income earners and poor people so that the government could organise training programmes to upgrade their skills or create programmes to develop their occupations.
There are an estimated 1.03 million people identified by the government as the first group that needs urgent assistance measures.
The survey conducted by the Interior Ministry in 2019 found 4.4 million lacked at least one of five basic minimum needs.
The five basic minimum needs are health, well-being, education, revenue and access to natural resources.
Mr Wanchat said many provinces have started implementing aid projects for these people with support from four ministries: Interior, Public Health, Education, and Social Development and Human Security.