A soon-to-be-released document for local governments will help
140 million migrant people get access to better housing, medical
services and education for their children, a senior official said
yesterday.
"All local governments should incorporate the document's new
measures for the migrant population into their economic and social
development plans," Zhang Xinfeng, vice-minister of public
security, said yesterday at the meeting of the Central Committee
for Comprehensive Management of Public Security, which reviewed the
document draft.
Under the new measures, governments will:
Be responsible for educating the children of migrant workers in
their adopted homes.
Build dorms for migrant workers to improve their living
conditions.
Encourage migrant workers to obtain insurance cover for work and
basic medical care.
Provide them with the same free services available to the
registered population in areas such as infectious disease
prevention and treatment, children's vaccination and maternity
care.
Gradually commit to giving migrant workers in stable employment
the opportunity for permanent residency status.
Migrant people have to register for temporary residency when
they move to a city. However they do not have access to education
for their children and some free medical services.
Official figures show there are currently about 140 million
migrant people across the country, roughly 10 percent of the total
population.
(China Daily November 21, 2007)