Concerned authorities are conducting surveys to ensure that social security funds reach the deserving beneficiaries. The measure comes in the wake of reports that a large number of undeserving individuals are cornering away most of the aid distributed by the government, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported on Sunday. Mohammad Al-Oqla, Deputy Minister of Social Affairs for Social Security, said more than 450 employees have been mobilized to conduct field surveys to locate needy families and the poor who are too proud to ask for alms. The ministry is mandated with tallying orphans, widows, divorced women, handicapped and disabled persons. More than 90 offices are operating under the ministry to reach out to needy individuals who did not get any benefits in the past, Al-Oqla said. The periodic updates taken up by the ministry aim at ascertaining eligibility of beneficiaries to receive the social security funds, he said. Al-Oqla explained that these funds are distributed through a system linking his ministry to a number of other government authorities including the National Information Center and the Civil Service Ministry. He said the survey resulted in locating more than 20,000 needy families whose members never applied for social security or were unable to reach the concerned offices. More than SR30 million were disbursed to them, he said. Al-Oqla stressed the ministry's keenness on ensuring that funds reach the deserving persons. Last week, the Ministry of Social Affairs disbursed more than SR900 million to more than 650,000 Saudi families deserving the Zakat funds. This practice is periodically enforced in Saudi Arabia through more than 2,000 ATM machines. __
