Underprivileged families to receive JD100 each under Royal makruma

AMMAN — The Ministry of Social Development on Sunday started distributing JD100 in cash assistance to 20,700 underprivileged families under a Royal makruma, according to a ministry official.

"The move aims to enable underprivileged families across the Kingdom to meet the needs of the fasting month of Ramadan," Ministry Spokesperson Fawaz Ratrout told The Jordan Times, noting that the makruma is distributed twice annually.

According to a ministry statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the distribution will continue until Tuesday.

Beneficiaries are families that include orphans, low-income people with disabilities, senior citizens, women with no providers and whose heads have a permanent or temporary disability. 

In Ramadan, which starts on Wednesday or Thursday according to the Islamic lunar calendar, Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset and increase their donations and charitable activities.  

“We urge people to deliver their donations through official channels licensed by the ministry,” Ratrout said. 

The ministry annually issues approvals for some 300 associations and commissions to collect donations.

He noted that donors must check that the organisation they are donating through has a valid licence and that their contributions are documented in a receipt with the organisation’s name and the ministry’s stamp.

“Unofficial donation channels do not guarantee that they reach those in need,” Ratrout noted, and the ministry works with a network of partners to deliver assistance to needy families across the Kingdom.

He highlighted that the ministry’s records of underprivileged families are open to those wishing to donate, because “it is the right of the donor that his/her donation reaches the targeted people”.

Begging

The ministry’s plan for the fasting month also addresses the begging phenomenon, which spreads in Ramadan to cash in on people’s increased inclination to charity.

“This Ramadan the ministry will intensify its campaigns in major cities, including the capital, Zarqa, Irbid and Aqaba,” the spokesperson said, noting that inspection teams work from the early hours of the morning until late at night.

To avoid being apprehended in the streets, beggars target apartments and housing complexes, according to Ratrout, who warned against the new trend.

“We urge people to call the ministry to report these beggars.”

Over 1,300 beggars were apprehended across Jordan last Ramadan, 129 of whom (10 per cent) were Syrians.