Japan Press Weekly

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2008 June 18 - 24 [POLITICS]

Anti-poverty network requests government to stop cutting social services costs

Representatives of the Anti-poverty Mutual Network, a non-profit organization, on June 19 visited the Cabinet Office with a petition to Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo, requesting that the government forego an annual 200 trillion yen cut in the social welfare budget under its FY 2008 plan.

Utsunomiya Kenji (lawyer), Yuasa Makoto, and other representatives of the Network held a news conference later in the day and stressed the urgent need to help to improve the living conditions of people in distress.

A man who has difficulty swallowing and speaking also attended the news conference.

A man from Tokyo in tears said that he had his legs and almost all his fingers cut off in a workplace accident and has lived for 13 years on disability pension and his savings. With only 2,000 yen in his pocket, he visited the municipal welfare office, where he was rudely asked, “Why can’t you work?”

An 81-year-old man, also from Tokyo, emphasized that after the government introduced the new medical insurance system for the elderly aged 75 and over in April, he and his wife will have to pay premiums of 131,700 yen a year, double the present 65,000 yen. “The cold-hearted welfare system must be abolished immediately,” he stressed. - Akahata, June 20, 2008