Unaffordable welfare abuse

It has been reported that in central china's Hunan province, low-rent housing, a welfare that the government provides for low-income families, has become a means some people use to make money. It is a matter of social justice and fairness and it should never be ignored or handled with kid gloves.

A two-room apartment for which the tenant pays the government just 40 yuan ($6.5) a month can be rented out for 2,000 yuan a month, according to the report. Reporters found that such illegal practice is common in the provincial capital Changsha. And the phenomenon also exists in other cities.

For those who enjoy such low-rent houses, the abuse of this welfare by renting out their government-leased, low-rent houses constitutes a serious infringement on the interests of the State. For those who get such houses by providing false information and then rent out the houses for profit, what they do can be considered fraud.

For the local government, the phenomenon is a sign of its negligence, if not corruption, in carrying out its duties or else its incompetent governance.

Given the large number of neighborhood committees whose staff also get subsidies from the government and a large number of sub-district offices, it should not be that difficult to exert supervision over the economic situation of those who enjoy low-rent houses from the government. Once they are not entitled to such housing any longer or they have rented out such houses for profits, they need to return the houses. However, it seems both neighborhood committees and sub-district offices are not playing such a role and there seems no well-arranged supervision over the abuse of this welfare.

As far as legislation is concerned, there are no legal specifications about how such abuses of social welfare should be handled.

There is no doubt that governments at all levels should pay more attention to this issue. A law needs to be drawn up and introduced to deal with this serious social problem as the abuse of this welfare actually infringes on the interests of taxpayers whose money is used to build the low-rent or affordable housing.

Misuse of affordable housing is not just a waste of public money. It also makes a dent in the trustworthiness of the government if such social welfare does not benefit those who need it.