The Social Security Office has been accused of wasting the 10 billion baht a year management budget from the Social Security Fund.

However, an SSO executive rejected the allegation, saying the fund's accounts are audited by the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG).

The SSO came under heavy fire from employees and labour leaders when it proposed a plan to spend 1.2-1.5 billion baht from the fund to finance contribution of 5kg of rice to all 9.3 million SSF members across the country. Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong has decided to scrap the plan.

An SSO source said the Social Security Act set the SSF's annual management fund at 10% of contributions collected from employees and employers. However, the management budget, or about 10 billion baht out of the 100 billion baht contributions collected a year, was spent in a way that favoured those who wielded power, government officials and labour leaders close to them.

Over the past few years, about 3-4% of the management budget had been spent, mostly on administrative management of the SSO, meeting allowances, transport and accommodation expenses of SSO board members and other expenses that required board approval.

The source said several projects approved by the board had raised questions about how well the management budget was spent. During the tenure of Somsak Thepsuthin, money from the management budget had been used to provide financial assistance to flood-affected residents in some northern provinces.

Pan Wannapinit, secretary-general to the SSO, said the SSF's budget followed the strategic framework laid out by the fund's tripartite structure, which comprised representatives of employers, employees and the state.

Still, Mr Pan said the panel would screen budgets for each project and forward them to the permanent secretary for labour, who serves as chairman of the SSO's board, for consideration.

Board members were also allowed to propose projects but they must be in line with the fund's strategic framework.

The fund's spending would be audited by the OAG, which would examine and monitor the use of the Social Security Fund's money in the same way the office audited the accounts of state agencies, said Mr Pan.

Boonchong Boonyarat, chairman of the Central Labour Council of Thailand, yesterday backed the labour minister's decision to scrap the SSO's plan to give away rice to members of the SSF.

Mr Boonchong urged authorities to use the SSF's money efficiently, particularly its annual management budget, for the benefit of the fund's members.

Wilaiwan sae Tia, chairman of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, said a group of labour unions earlier petitioned the National Human Rights Commission and the Lawyers Council of Thailand to investigate the use of the management budget over the past one to two years. So far, there has been little progress in the investigation.

She called for restructuring of the SSO and its board to improve efficiency.