Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday ordered the disbursement of 100 billion baht in supplementary budget for fiscal 2018 to be completed by this September to raise the income of those living below the poverty line.
At the weekly cabinet meeting, Gen Prayut ordered all related ministries to accelerate projects designated to help ease the plight of low-income earners under the Thai Niyom (Thai-ism) scheme.
The Thai Niyom scheme is intended to make state agencies and local scholars collaborate to raise people's living standards in line with goals set by the government's 20-year national strategy.
The 100-billion-baht budget is part of 150 billion in supplementary funds the cabinet approved in January for fiscal 2018, intended to finance the second phase of the government's welfare and subsidy scheme for the poor, farm sector reform and tambon-level development, including Village Funds.
The second phase of the government's welfare and subsidy scheme is aimed at addressing the root causes of poverty, requiring recipients to sign up for skills training programmes to obtain an additional living allowance of 100-200 baht a month to buy goods at Thong Fah Pracha Rat shops, on top of the 200-300 baht given under the first phase.
Apart from training, the second phase was designed to allow low-income earners better access to financial resources covering basic needs, including homes, land for generating income and savings for retirement.
The cabinet in January approved 35.7 billion baht for the second phase of the welfare scheme, aiming to raise 1 million people out of poverty.
Some 5.3 million out of 11.4 million recipients of the government's welfare and subsidy scheme are living below the national poverty line, earning less than 30,000 baht a year.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said the ministry has already allocated the supplementary budget and is waiting for project applications.
Procurement could finish before August for projects approved by the ministry, he said.
Gen Anupong said after having surveyed the demands of locals, the ministry is preparing to allocate 200,000 baht each to 80,000 villages nationwide.
Projects for which applications have been sent include water resource development, rice mills and One Tambon One Product (Otop) Village development.
Otop is a local entrepreneurship scheme aimed at supporting unique, locally made products from around Thailand.
"This month, each community should conclude their development project plans, and the ministry expects to deliver [funds to each] starting next month," he said.