Dutch government resigns over childcare subsidies scandal

The government of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte collectively resigned on Friday over its mismanagement of childcare subsidies, national broadcaster NOS reported. Rutte was to inform King Willem-Alexander of the decision and hold a press conference later on Friday.


Reuters | Updated: 15-01-2021 18:58 IST | Created: 15-01-2021 18:25 IST
Dutch government resigns over childcare subsidies scandal
Representative image Image Credit: Twitter(@MinPres)

The government of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte collectively resigned on Friday over its mismanagement of childcare subsidies, national broadcaster NOS reported.

Rutte was to inform King Willem-Alexander of the decision and hold a press conference later on Friday. The decision follows a parliamentary inquiry last month that found bureaucrats at the tax service, with government oversight, had driven thousands of families to financial ruin with wrongful accusations of fraud.

The inquiry report said around 10,000 families had been wrongfully forced to repay tens of thousands of euros of subsidies, leading to unemployment, bankruptcies and divorces. It described such mismanagement over a decade as an "unprecedented injustice".

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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