Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah said Sunday in Miaoli, central Taiwan that the government will increase the number of its social workers from the current 1,590 to 3,052 by 2016. 'Among them, 60 percent will be government employees, ' while the others will be contract workers, he said. The new workers will focus on the protection of children, teenagers, seniors and the mentally and physically disadvantaged, and will work to prevent domestic violence, Jiang said. The minister was in Miaoli to review the social system in the central Taiwan county, after a single mother and her 13-year-old daughter committed suicide there in April. The case caused a public outcry because the social workers in the area were unable to stop the tragedy, despite warnings from the daughter. Jiang said he knows government social workers are under great pressure because there are too few of them. He promised to increase the number, saying that the plan has already been approved by the Executive Yuan. The social worker to population ratio to will be increased from 1:14,549 to 1:7,580, he said. The number of contract social workers will be increased by 366 next year, which will require an extra outlay of NT$220.48 million, 40 percent of which will be borne by his ministry and 60 percent by the local governments, he said. 