 Elderly people call for no welfare cuts With the finance ministry almost ready to present other ministries with a draft budget for fiscal 2005 (Apr.2005 - Mar.2006), about 20 senior citizens on December 19 carried out a sit-in in front of the welfare ministry in Tokyo, calling for an increase in budget allocations for social welfare and medical care services as well as improvement of the national pension and nursing-care insurance systems. The sit-in, called by the National Liaison Committee of Local Organizations for Old-age Security (Roshiren), will continue until December 22. Ikeda Nobue, 85, lives on 32,000 yen she receives each month as pension benefit (about 306.6 dollars). In addition to the monthly premiums for the nursing care insurance, which is 3,400 yen, she pays another 1,000 yen for the day-care service each time she uses it, making her reluctant to use the service. Kashiwagi Yoshikichi, 77, said, "The adverse tax 'reform' will force low income pensioners to pay the residential tax. How can the government be so cold-hearted to the elderly who contributed to laying the foundations for Japan's prosperity in difficult times after WWII? Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Koike Akira joined the protesters and encouraged them. (end) |