RIYADH, 10 September 2006 — Minister of Social Affairs Abdul Mohsen Al-Akkas announced yesterday his ministry’s plan to implement the new social welfare program in the Kingdom according to the Council of Minister’s decision announced several months ago.
The new social welfare plan will cover all Saudi citizens who are above 60 years and who do not work or who do not have a financial provider. The plan will also cover all of the beneficiary’s family members as long as they do not exceed eight.
According to the minister, a non-Saudi spouse of a married Saudi man would be included in the social welfare program if she were eligible to receive it. If the Saudi spouse passes away, the non-Saudi wife would continue to receive financial support from the program as a widow. The program also covers a Saudi widow married to a non-Saudi, handicapped persons, as well as orphans.
Male children of those covered by the new social plan who are younger than 18 years will continue to receive financial support by the ministry as long as they are in school and have not graduated from college or landed a job by the age of 26. As for female children, the new social welfare program would support them until they are married or land a job in the public or private sector.
The minister said that according to the Royal Decree, a new ceiling for what a Saudi citizen is eligible to receive in the program has been raised to SR9,400. An additional SR3,100 would be given for every additional family member for up to eight members.
The minister said that “according to the eighth subject in the new law, the system has separated the amount received from the social insurance plan to any financial support received by the person from charities or emergency financial plans.”
He also said that the new system has changed the method of distribution from a yearly basis to a monthly basis, adding that the new emergency plan according to the Royal Decree has been increased to SR30,000 instead of what was previously distributed which was SR15,000.
Al-Akkas called on other government departments to cooperate with the ministry to provide the necessary data needed according to Article 14 of the law such as information about retirement or information on civil status.
He also said it was important that governorates in the Kingdom cooperate with field inspectors and for them to advise inspectors of any changes to the social or financial status of the beneficiary of the new program.
He called on citizens who come to the ministry to be included in the social welfare program or who were applying for zakat that they should be eligible to receive the fund according to the conditions set by the new law.
