The Poverty Benefit Scheme (PBS) allows anyone to apply for this assistance, however eligibility is determined by the evidences gathered during assessment process, says the Ministry of Social Welfare director Mr Rupeni Fatiaki.
Last year, the PBS replaced the Family Assistance Program (FAP) and this has emanated following the partnership between the Ministry and the World Bank to review and streamline the social protection programs in Fiji.
While explaining about the Scheme, Mr Fatiaki said that it targets those who are “poorest of the poor” and living in destitution.
“Anyone can apply for this assistance however it’s the assessment that determines whether one will be eligible to receive this assistance. Even the sugarcane laborers who are seasonal workers can apply for PBS, we know for the fact that these laborers don’t have permanent source of income. Assessment is done on proxy means testing, looking at the properties, land ownership and household items owned by the applicants,” he explained.
Evidence gathering through home visits is a compulsory component in processing all the applications under Poverty Benefit Scheme.
“At the end of the home visits, a scorecard is derived and the threshold score will determine, whether the family is really poor and should be assisted through Poverty Benefit Scheme. This system is objective in the sense that it’s the evidence recorded from the questionnaires which ensures that only deserving cases are assisted. The methodology for scrutinizing information about the clients ensures accountability and transparency in the services we provide to the people who genuinely need social welfare assistance,” Mr Fatiaki reiterated.
He said that Poverty Benefit Scheme ensures that maximum of four members in a household are assisted.
“Previously with the Family Assistance Program, it was targeted towards individuals only and assistance was limited to 3 categories (elderly, permanently disabled and chronically ill). With the PBS, assistance is provided to the maximum of four members in a household, each of these four individuals will receive $30 for example a family of four will receive $120 monthly allowance and the other assistance added to this allowance is $30 food voucher, so in total the monthly allowances under PBS is $150 a month, payments are done electronically,” he said.
Through a recertification exercise, the clients under Family Assistance have been transferred to Poverty Benefit Scheme with 19,000 as its current beneficiaries.
“We have applications coming in every month so they will be added to the existing recipient lists. There are 15 social welfare offices around the country and those applying for the Poverty Benefit Scheme need to visit their nearest welfare office and register by providing their birth certificate and residential address, contact details.
“Once they have registered, the social welfare officers will take note of the addresses and do home visit to collect required information for the questionnaires to process applications. The timeframe for processing each application is 30 days, however welfare officers are encouraged to process these applications a lot faster”, Mr Fatiaki added.
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