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Wednesday, July 19, 1972

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE SCHEME EXCEEDS TARGET

The total number of active cases in the Social Welfare Department's

Public Assistance Scheme reached 15,265 at the end of June -- exceeding for

the first time the target of 15,000 originally set when the scheme was revised

last year.

New applications received during the month numbered 889, including 88

from voluntary agencies. A total of 131 cases were reactivated in June, and

at the same time, 618 cases were closed.

Cash payments during the month totalled $2.5 million, bringing to

$18.5 million the amount spent so far since the expanded scheme was implemented

on April 1, 1971.

Commenting on these figures, Mr. Chou Ting-hsun, Acting Assistant Director

(General) of Social Welfare, said today: "They make clear that the scheme has

begun to be widely known, and that people who were meant to benefit are coming

forward."

On the basis of an average family of five members, 15,265 cases means

that 76,325 residents are presently covered by the scheme.

But Mr. Chou said if one took into account the individuals who had

been helped to stand on their own feet again and who were accordingly no longer

beneficiaries, the grand total would be about 90,000.

To cope with these numbers, 14 field units have been set up, and the

15th, to serve the Shau Kei Wan and Chai Wan areas, will open on August 1, 1972.

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