From the beginning of this year municipal governments in Lithuania are responsible for the payment of social benefits

It is expected that the decision to put municipal governments in charge of social benefit payments will help to combat the abuses of monetary social assistance. A special impetus to municipalities in this case should be that any money saved will not have to be returned to the state budget. So, from now people who receive social assistance and those who would like to receive it will be very severely tested. The Lithuanian Labour Exchange and the local community, who best know how one or another neighbor lives, should be able to help the municipal governments.