Applicants for welfare to face tougher scrutiny

Applicants for welfare subsidies will have their household income and assets checked, a process that will become standard practice across the nation, Civil Affairs Minister Li Liguo proposed to the country's top legislature on Wednesday.

To reduce nepotism and unfairness in processing applications, it will be mandatory to make records of subsidy recipients if they are relatives of staff members in social welfare departments, or community or village officials, Li said during a report to Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

A system to verify the eligibility of welfare subsidy recipients and information sharing among different government departments will be established by 2015, according to a statement on the ministry's website released on Monday.