Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on Thursday urged the Ministry of Agriculture to ease the limit on financial status eligibility for elderly farmer welfare allowance, in light of increased consumer and property prices.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) told a news conference that although the welfare allowance for elderly farmers has been raised, its criteria for applicants’ financial status has not been revised for 14 years.
The Provisional Act Governing the Welfare Allowance for Elderly Farmers (老農津貼暫行條例) stipulates that the allowance amount should be adjusted once every four years, and it was increased to NT$8,110 last year from NT$7,000 in 2012, when the scheme was implemented, Lin said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Over the same period, the consumer price index climbed to 108.82 from 92.09, up by 18 percent, while the average land value nationwide rose by more than 70 percent to NT$36.29 million (US$1.21 million) from NT$20.5 million per hectare, he said.
Cost of living and real-estate value are the two factors relevant to the financial status eligibility for the allowance, Lin said, adding that many applicants are ruled out due to soaring consumer and property prices.
Lawmakers have proposed different versions of eligibility relaxation measures, such as adjusting criteria that would make them ineligible for the welfare allowance, including raising the cutoff for individual taxable income from all sources other than agriculture from NT$500,000 to NT$600,000, and for individual-owned property value from NT$5 million to NT$8 million, he said.
The Executive Yuan should integrate the different proposals and put forward its own plan as soon as possible, Lin said.
DPP Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said that he received complaints from many agricultural workers about being disqualified from the allowance scheme due to the increased property prices.
The Ministry of Agriculture should examine how many agricultural workers have been disqualified and evaluate their losses, he said.
Kuo also suggested using the consumer price index for elderly households when assessing the applicants, as well as revising the eligibility requirements as frequently as adjusting the allowance, he added.
The proposal would be sent to the Executive Yuan for review, along with eight social welfare subsidies, Kuo cited the legislature’s Economics Committee as saying.
He added that it should be addressed separately, given that the allowance is offered as agricultural workers’ pensions instead of subsidies for disadvantaged groups.
Department of Farmers’ Service senior engineer Wang Tung-liang (王東良) said that the ministry in December 2023 submitted an integrated proposal to the Executive Yuan.
However, the Executive Yuan considered the allowance as related to social welfare subsidies and decided to explore the schemes through more interagency meetings, he said.
DPP legislators Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) on May 16 proposed amendments to the act, aimed at relaxing the allowance’s criteria of individual-owned property value from NT$5 million to NT$8 million, and personal housing value from NT$4 million to NT$6.4 million.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
Taiwan must act to preempt potential Section 301 investigations as US President Donald Trump moves to a new tariff strategy, following a US Supreme Court ruling that voided tariff measures, an academic said yesterday. Countries running the largest trade surpluses with the US face a growing likelihood of Section 301 investigations, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. Section 301 refers to a provision of the Trade Act of 1974 that allows Washington to impose retaliatory tariffs over perceived unfair trade practices, including the running of large trade surpluses. Because Taiwan has become the fourth-largest source of the US’ trade
People hold incense and pray with offerings in front of Taipei’s Kuanghwa Market yesterday. The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally about welcoming the God of Wealth, during which companies and shops set off firecrackers to celebrate their reopening and pray for good business in the new year.
RSS