Ammon News - Minister of Social Development and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Aid Fund (NAF), Ayman Mufleh, voiced readiness to implement government decisions aimed to alleviate Corona-induced repercussions on the social protection sector, Petra reported.

The minister on Wednesday said the government decided to increase the number of beneficiaries of the "Takaful 3, Solidarity" cash assistance program, which is directed to needy families hardest-hit by the pandemic, to reach 60,000 families, and provide vouchers to buy foodstuff during the holy month of Ramadan, according to Petra.

Mufleh added that the number of "Takaful 3" program beneficiaries has been increased by additional 60,000 families, bringing the total to 160,000.

To expedite assistance disbursement, Mufleh said the NAF will start evaluating the new families' circumstances targeted by Takaful 3 program to identify their eligibility.

The new 60,000 families will receive cash support for a period of 8 months, starting from April and ending in December, he noted.

Mafleh pointed out that the government decided to provide purchase vouchers for foodstuffs during the holy month of Ramadan for underprivileged families through the civil and military consumer establishments.

In total, 250,000 families will benefit from the foodstuff vouchers, which would include underprivileged households, children of refugee camps and Jordanian women married to foreigners, at a rate of JD35 per voucher, he said.

The ministry will announce the mechanism, conditions and date to benefit from food vouchers in the coming days, he noted.

The government, he said, has also decided to postpone the ministry's loan installments for productive families, who benefit from the ministry's productivity-enhancing programs until the end of 2021, and 12,000 households will benefit from this decision, according to the minister.

The ministry had previously deferred installment payments of March, April and May, to contribute to alleviating the citizens' burdens during the exceptional circumstances that the Kingdom is witnessing due to the pandemic, Mufleh pointed out.