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2.1 million benefited by February’s end; includes Kuwaitis, GCC citizens, Bedoons, and sponsored domestic workers.
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Kuwaiti households faced costs due to unnotified ration card changes, including discontinued rations and added expenses.
In January and February this year, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry extended support for various materials, including construction supplies, amounting to approximately 64 million dinars.
The support for construction materials provided to citizens eligible for housing assistance accounted for most of the support provided by the ministry, totaling about 42.4 million dinars.
In Haibin, the support provided for basic food supplies during the aforementioned two months amounted to about 19.3 million dinars. As for the support provided for milk and children’s nutrition, it amounted to about two million dinars.
Dip in beneficiaries to 2.1 million
Data issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed a decrease in the number of individuals benefiting from cumulative provisions until the end of last February, bringing their total to about 2.1 million beneficiaries. This figure includes Kuwaiti citizens, citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) residing countries in Kuwait, individuals of unspecified nationality (Bedoon), and domestic workers registered under sponsorship categories, due to decisions regulating the supply.
The numbers show a decrease of about 100,000 beneficiaries in food support compared to the same period last year.
Auditing and cleaning records
Responsible government sources indicated that the decline in the number of beneficiaries is due to the ministry’s process of auditing and cleaning records for those entitled to food support. This includes deleting undeserving categories such as deceased individuals and workers with expired legal residency, whether due to final travel abroad or prolonged absence from work.
The ministry had previously announced that ration support allocated to domestic workers must be linked to their sponsor’s original civil card. It stressed that it would cancel support if sponsors are not listed on the same ration card.
The ministry further explained that, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the Kuwait Supply Company, and thanks to automatic linking between government agencies, domestic workers not included in the ration card sponsorship will be canceled.
Food rations
The ministry had previously collaborated with the Public Authority for Civil Information to cease providing subsidized rates to certain citizens. This action was taken due to their passing away or the expiration of the validity period of their civil cards.
This decision followed the discovery of a significant number of citizens who had passed away years ago, as well as domestic workers and others who had left Kuwait.
Despite this, some Kuwaiti households continued to receive their food rations, which had originally been discontinued due to death or departure from the country. This situation resulted in additional costs, which some family heads unjustly bore, as they were not informed about the deceased individuals added to the ration card or the departure of domestic workers without replacements being added to the list of those eligible for food support.
