Republic of Mauritius- The number of households eligible under the Social Register of Mauritius keeps fluctuating, says Minister Wong

The Minister of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment, Mr Alain Wong, presented these facts yesterday, while replying to a parliamentary question in the National Assembly.

As at November 2018, some 11 108 households representing 43 957 beneficiaries were registered and found eligible under the SRM for empowerment support, Mr Wong pointed out.

Speaking about the eligibility criteria to benefit from support under Empowerment Schemes, the Minister said that the household must be registered and found eligible under the SRM.  A social contract must also be signed with the Ministry to be eligible to benefit from support under the Schemes, he added.  In addition, the standards of each household or income registered under the SRM are assessed based on social demographic and economic characteristics.

The Social Register of Mauritius

The SRM uses a Proxy Means Test (PMT) to determine eligibility below a given threshold. It improves the targeting efficiency of social programmes so that limited programme resources primarily reach those who deserve them most. 

The SRM aims to maximise policy effectiveness in the fight against poverty and in the application of the housing schemes and day-care centres. The main objectives are also to better target beneficiaries of social programmes; manage these programmes in an integrated way; better harmonise the criteria for social programmes run by Ministries; and analyse cyclical and structural poverty reduction policies.