KABUL (SW) – Officials at the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled Affairs (MoMDA) report that in the past one year, with 15,000 more registrations, the total number of deserving beneficiaries has surged to 653,000.
According to the ministry, as of now, 612,088 individuals have been receiving monthly stipends. This was announced during the annual performance review briefing by the MoMDA, which covered the period from August of the previous year to August of the current year.
Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Deputy Minister of the MoMDA, detailed: “Since August of last year, 653,265 orphans, widows, and disabled individuals have been registered with the ministry. Among them, 369,533 are orphans (163,479 female and over 162,000 male), more than 94,000 are widows, and 189,635 are disabled. To date, over 612,000 individuals have received cash assistance from this ministry,” Haqqani said.
He further noted that of the 600,000 registered individuals, 167,645 are affiliated with the Islamic Emirate’s forces, while 363,321 are civilians, and 122,299 belong to the orphans, widows and disabled individuals of the previous government’s security and defense forces.
Haqqani also mentioned that during the review, over 28,000 martyrs’ heirs and disabled individuals registered with the ministry were found to be ineligible for assistance.
“From August of last year to this year, out of a budget allocation of 15.4 billion Afghanis, we have disbursed monthly stipends to the heirs of martyrs, disabled individuals, orphans, and widows through banking systems,” he added.
Additionally, Kalimullah Afghan, the General Director of Finance and Administration at the MoMDA, reported that over the past year, besides providing non-cash assistance to 89,000 individuals, the ministry signed 67 cooperation agreements with different aid organizations. He said the ministry also secured $1.083 million in aid for widows, orphans and disabled individuals.
“Last year, we signed 67 cooperation agreements with partner organizations to support economically vulnerable widows, orphans, and disabled individuals. We provided $4.5 million in services and vocational and technical training to 120 individuals,” he said.
It is worth noting that there have been repeated complaints from martyrs’ families and disabled individuals regarding insufficient monthly stipends and delays in payments.
