New draft law on social protection hailed in Oman

Muscat: People in Oman have hailed the draft law on social protection.

The Council of Ministers’ referral of the draft law on social protection to the Council of Oman reflects the Royal attention accorded by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik for the welfare of Omani people in accordance with the Basic Law of the State and Oman Vision 2040.

The social protection draft law establishes a system that covers instruments and programmes benefiting all segments of society and proposes extending social protection and retirement benefits to citizens and residents in the Sultanate of Oman.

The social protection system has two parts with the first part being direct benefits and defines the different social and age groups. Jihad bin Abdullah Al Fannah, a member of the Shura Council’s office, said to Al Shabiba Radio.

“The benefits will now reach directly to those who deserve it and is being seen as a more accurate way than the previous one, which relied on families with limited income and social security only,” he said.

“The second part, he said deals with benefits of job and retirement insurance, whether from the private or the government sector, as well as self-employed workers, craftsmen, and lower-income families,” he further added.

“Thus with the new social protection system we notice a remarkable development as a new approach,” he pointed out.

Jihad Al Fannah also spoke about the importance of this new system, saying that it is largely represented in the new pension law. “Previously, there were groups that were not subject to retirement schemes. Now, it has become important to subject them to the retirement system so as to protect them. This will also open new opportunities for young people and encourage them to be self-reliant and opt for entrepreneurship and self-employment.”

“If the new social protection system is able to unify the retirement pension for all the groups, it is possible that youths of such sectors will not wait for job opportunities in the government sector only,” he further added.