Minister of Manpower Mohamed Safaan announced on Tuesday the date and locations for the distribution of the EGP 500 exceptional assistance that is to be given to 1.5 million irregular workers.
The exceptional assistance, which registered workers will be given in three tranches, is aimed at those irregular workers who have been severely affected by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Safaan said the release of the aid will take place between 12 and16 April. To avoid crowding, the workers will receive an SMS from the ministry informing them of the date and post office from which they can receive the assistance.
Safaan added that when the worker receives their EGP 500 aid, they will also receive a free Visa Card from the post office for the second and third months of aid, totaling EGP 1,500.. Safaan also said that irregular workers will be able to register for the three months worth of aid via the Ministry of Manpower’s website until 9 April.
Earlier on Monday, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ordered the exceptional assistance for irregular workers be released, and to ensure that tourism sector workers get their wages. Saafan said that it will start to implement the president’s instructions on Tuesday.
The ministry’s emergency fund will ensure that tourism sector employees (estimated at 900,000 workers) that have been affected by the coronavirus will still get their salaries.
There are different estimates regarding the numbers of informal and irregular workers in Egypt. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the number of people who depend on intermittent work was roughly 4.3 million in the third quarter of 2019. However, according to Saafan, there are over 10 million irregular workers in Egypt.
