The Ministry of Planning has assigned its departments throughout the Kingdom to register a comprehensive identification data of poor households who will receive assistance from the government during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The departments have been told to collect the data in rural areas by the end of May and urban areas before the end of June.

In an emergency video conference with planning department officials on Monday, its minister Chhay Than said the government needs to identify the most vulnerable throughout the Kingdom. He said specialised training will be provided.

“At the discretion of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, we will shortly conduct training courses for all provincial and municipal planning departments to identify the poor during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

He said the planning ministry has laid out a mechanism for officials to identify the poor based on each household’s request and consultation with the local authorities. Excluding households that have become better off also needs to go through the procedures.

The aim, he said, is to help improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable and reduce the impacts caused by Covid-19.

Than said the government had provided cash to poor families who already have the so-called equity cards and some other families who were absent when the identification process began. Other families who have lost their income due to Covid-19 will also receive financial assistance.

The ministry’s Planning Cabinet deputy director Nop Kornavuth told The Post on Tuesday that households directly affected by Covid-19 are required to submit their request to the local authorities. Officials are to determine if they have faced hardship due to the pandemic.

After being certified by local the authorities as such, each planning department will issue an equity card for them before they can receive financial assistance from the government.

“All municipal and provincial planning departments will begin compiling poor household identification data starting from May until the deadline so that we can determine the number of vulnerable families and the amount of money to be provided to them.

“So far, we have distributed 40,000 cards for the poor to use public services.”

Affiliated Network for Social Accountability executive director San Chhey said while he welcomed the move, he wanted relevant authorities of all levels to disclose the budget and data of poor households in a transparent manner. That way, he said the government can efficiently improve their livelihoods.

He said so far, there have been suspicions that local authorities were hiding information related to the identification of poor households under their jurisdictions to avoid being scolded by higher authorities for being inefficient in addressing the poor’s needs.

“Some families remain poor due to certain circumstances, or because public services are not efficient enough to lift them out of poverty. So we need to find ways to help the most vulnerable.

“Hiding information about the poor is a big mistake and would not comprehensively help them,” he said.