RIYADH: During the past Hijri year, 21,000 beggars were identified and arrested. Of these, 9 percent were Saudi nationals.
Up to 74,000 people were found violating and manipulating social insurance conditions, said the Minister of Social Affairs Majed Al-Qusbi.
During the 6th session of the Shoura Council, Al-Qusbi said his ministry is currently working on reviewing insurance payments, noting that the ministry suffers from a lack of experts to deal with patients with autism.
Currently 128 centers provide care for people with disabilities, benefiting 9,800 patients, including those with autism, he said.
Al-Qusbi said that a royal decree was issued to study the status of Saudi patients with autism in care centers outside the Kingdom and means of bringing them back.
Some 1,400 orphans are currently in nurseries and schools, and 480,000 cases receive subsidies for people with disabilities, he added.
The ministry is working on developing 16 regulations and 22 implementing regulations to keep pace with developments in the field, the minister said, and assured beneficiaries of social insurance that the lifting of subsidy on electricity will not affect them.
“We are currently studying the possibility of providing a residential program for social insurance beneficiaries,” said Al-Qusbi.
The minister reported that the Saudi Credit and Savings Bank conducted a survey including a number of developed countries about savings affairs in order to stimulate savings activities among citizens and gradually eliminate the culture of loans and debt, noting that 96 percent of loans offered by the bank are in the area of social loans, exceeding SR11.5 billion during the past 11-month period.
“Eighty-seven percent of the ministry’s budget is included in financial subsidies, with 69 percent of it going toward social insurance,” he said.
In another context, Al-Qusbi revealed that procedures to issue licenses for charitable organizations will be transferred to electronic services, and will be reduced from 80 procedures to 14. He said the ministry encourages the establishment of specialized associations and charities, and confirmed 74 percent of associations are classified as “righteous” organizations, while only 26 percent are specialized.
As for the care for domestic workers, he said this will be transferred to the Ministry of Labor soon.
Regarding women and children, the minister said: “Widows and divorcees are in need of work and the ministry has coordinated with the Ministry of Justice to host workshops about the abandonment of women,” noting that they are currently focusing on child and family council regulations which would reduce the suffering of women and children.
The ministry has also launched special programs with the participation of a number of authorities and agencies concerned with guaranteeing protection and productivity of children of insurance beneficiaries.
As for the SR150,000 grant for vehicles for people with disabilities, Al-Qusbi said that this is the the “perfect solution reached by the ministry to allow the beneficiary the choice of purchasing the vehicle of his choice, and to avoid having them taken advantage of.
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