Minister moots review of Socso claim approvals after 'puzzling' rejections

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan today said his ministry's weekly “Meet The Customers” session has increasingly attracted complaints from workers whose claims for invalidity pension under the Social Security Organisation (Socso) had been rejected by its medical board.

Speaking to reporters at the MIC headquarters, where the session is held every Thursday between agencies under the Human Resources Ministry and the public, Saravanan (above) said he was personally saddened and puzzled by the rejections.

"I am personally saddened to see the cases rejected by the panel of Health Ministry doctors.

"In several cases that I saw, these individuals were clearly no longer capable of working.

"I do not understand how the panel of doctors could reject such cases," said the MIC deputy president who today spent about three hours meeting over 100 customers of various agencies under his ministry.

Present were officers from Socso, the Labour Department, HRD Corp, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

New approach

Commenting further, Saravanan noted he would consider presenting video evidence of the complaints he received to the cabinet for consideration to review Socso's current application criteria.

"I am certain they can't work, so how can their applications be rejected?

"Maybe it is time to review the approvals by the medical panel. We need a new approach to ensure these people receive help," he said.

Among those seen gathered to meet Saravanan today include individuals with physical injuries or illness, some in wheelchairs and others assisted to walk.

There were others, however, who were dressed in suits and batik shirts, presenting the minister with various documents for his perusal.

Under the previous Pakatan Harapan administration, then human resource minister M Kulasegaran had hosted a similar weekly session but held at the ministry in Putrajaya, instead of his party headquarters.

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