Subsidies aim to avert unrest as jobless migrants return home
The central government promised yesterday to set aside 10 billion yuan (HK$11.3 billion) in subsidies for purchases of agricultural machinery next year, in addition to other policies to buttress employment in rural areas.
The initiative, announced by Xinhua, comes as authorities in Beijing are increasingly wary of the potential social unrest simmering among the millions of home-bound migrant workers, most of whom are casualties of the sharp economic slowdown in export-reliant coastal provinces.
Flagging global consumer demand, dragged down by the financial turmoil, has dealt a heavy blow to manufacturers in such provinces as Zhejiang , Guangdong and Fujian , all big employers of people from villages and small townships in the economically backward hinterland.
'The abrupt influx of an enormous number of disgruntled laid-off workers in the already povertystricken rural areas with limited, if not zero, social welfare could create a nightmare scenario for the government,' independent Beijing-based economist Mao Yushi said.
'They are now doing everything they can to forestall a social collapse by providing livelihoods for this rapidly growing demographic group.'