Dutch govt resigns over child subsidies scandal

  • The government of Netherlands collectively resigned due to an escalating scandal over the mismanagement of childcare subsidies.
  • Due to the scandal, thousands of Dutch families — particularly ethnic minorities — are still facing insurmountable debt.

WHAT WAS THE SCANDAL? 

  • A parliamentary inquiry found that the country’s tax service had wrongly accused over 26,000 Dutch parents of fraud since 2012, and ordered as many as 10,000 of these families to repay tens of thousands of euros worth of child subsidies. 
  • The inquiry report, published in December 2020, concluded that “unprecedented injustice” had been done to these innocent families, as a result of which many faced unemployment, bankruptcy and divorce.
  • Fraud investigations into the families were often triggered by something as simple as an administrative error, such as a missing signature.
  • Soon after the report was published last month, the Dutch government announced a compensation of at least 30,000 euros for each of the families falsely accused of fraud.
THE RESIGNATION AND WAY AHEAD

  • Dutch PM Rutte handed in his resignation to King Willem-Alexander, stating that the political responsibility of the scandal lay with his cabinet.
  • Rutte has been serving as Prime Minister of the country since 2010.
  • Earlier, he had Said that his government would not resign as it would get in the way of the national response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • However, he had to resign due to public pressure when Asscher stepped down from his job, after facing widespread criticism.
  • Asscher was the Social Affairs Minister between 2012 and 2017, the period when the scandal played out.
  • For now Rutte and his cabinet will remain in power in a caretaker capacity until the country’s general election scheduled for March 17. 
  • However, polls suggest that his People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy is likely to win a fourth term.

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