The Ombudsman’s position on the Minimum Guaranteed Income is damning for the government

 

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Giorgos Koukoumas

27 July 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The position of the Commissioner for Administration on the institution of the Minimum Guaranteed Income (GMI) is damning for the government and competent Ministry

The Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights (Ombudsman) confirms what thousands of citizens have been experiencing for years. GMI claimants have been waiting for months for their applications to be processed, through the fault of the state and not their own. They are being burdened with unnecessary bureaucracy and the demand to produce new certificates. Communication with the Ministry of Labour is impossible and the Welfare Benefits Office remains a faceless impersonal service. And all this, to the detriment of the most socially vulnerable citizens of the country, people who rely on this benefit for their livelihood. Seven years on from its introduction, the government’s pledges that the GMI would provide support to people directly and effectively have been completely exposed.

Cyprus needs a modern and progressive social policy, with services that are accessible to citizens, embrace – and do not harass – the vulnerable groups of the population, who need the social and financial support of the state more than anyone else.