The government has a responsibility to help impoverished
families, says an article in Yanzhao Metropolis Daily. An
excerpt follows:
A few days ago, the Beijing News carried two articles
on the story of the one-year-old quadruplets being brought to
Beijing from their hometown in Shangshui County of Henan
Province by their mother and grandmother and begging on the
streets of the capital for "milk powder money." It is reported that
a lot of kind-hearted people have offered a helping hand to the
poor family.
Similar cases are common throughout the country's vast rural
areas. Due to an insufficient social insurance system in rural
areas, many families fall into heavy debt and struggle for
existence for various reasons.
With the help of some kind-hearted people, they may survive for
a while. But people cannot help asking: Why has our country not set
up a public relief system to ensure the subsistence rights of those
in poverty?
In today's society in which not all are able to solve their own
food and clothing problems, a system should be set up to help needy
people so they can really enjoy the subsistence right.
As the country has generally stepped into a stage of growing
prosperity and social civilization has reached a relatively high
degree, it has become a legal obligation for the government to
effectively alleviate citizens' crises.
(China Daily October 11, 2005)