– plan to deal with ‘deadbeat dads’ in works, minister says

Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand and a team yesterday issued the first payments from a special government fund set up to assist single parents, who received contributions for day care costs.

In a brief address to the more than 20 recipients at the Region Two Regional Demo-cratic Council (RDC) room at Anna Regina, Manickchand said the government recognises the efforts and contributions of the working single parent and in an effort to bring some relief decided on the chosen venture.

The Region Two parents were the first to benefit from the Single Parent Fund that was announced last year by President Bharrat Jagdeo. They were each given a cheque for the sum of $9,000, which accounts for the rest of the year. To receive the day care assistance, single parents must be earning an income of under $30,000 a month, maintaining at least two children and have day care as an expense.

Beneficiaries of the fund were selected from a database of some 30,000 single parents who registered last year. The government has set aside $8 million for this initiative while another $50 million has been set aside to assist single parents by training and equipping them with a skill and in starting small businesses.

Manickchand said that although small, the $1,000 a month given will go a far way in helping single parents stay working and ensure that their children are taken care of. The minister added that the day care assistance is only one component of the ministry’s relief effort.

She announced that the second phase will be to train and equip stay-at-home single parents with the necessary skills so as to afford them the opportunity to lead a normal and stress free life.

Meanwhile, Manickchand also informed the gathering, which consisted of mostly women, that her ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, will be aggressively putting measures in place to deal with ‘deadbeat’ fathers who are willing to contribute towards making children but are unwilling to support them. The minister encouraged the parents to use the money for the intended purpose and nothing else.

Single parents who included untrained teachers, store clerks, office clerks, vendors and nurses told this newspaper that although the assistance was small, they were very thankful for it and felt good knowing that they are not alone. One single parent said: “In this time when we need finance the most, the government has remembered us and that makes us very happy.”