Prime Minister, Dr. Bishr Khasawneh, said the government has not made any amendments to the Student Support Fund system, nor to any procedures and mechanisms related to granting student grants and loans in this regard. The premier, during a Lower House session Wednesday, announced that the government has allocated an additional JD12.5 million in 2023 for the Student Support Fund, at the request of Parliament. He pointed out that the government “successfully” covered 100% of university students, who applied to benefit from grants and loans from the fund during 2022. Khasawneh said: “The government is proud for working diligently, round the clock to facilitate citizens’ life,” in implementation of His Majesty King Abdullah II’s directives as a key basis for fulfilling its constitutional oath. The PM added: “The government exhibits concern and fear over citizens’ interests, which refutes allegations that it takes measures in the opposite direction.” In addition, PM affirmed that the government, with House speakership and its permanent office, reached a “clear” mechanism regarding medical exemptions provided for eligible citizens who are not covered by health insurance services. Khasawneh pointed out that about 4,000 to 5,000 medical exemptions were issued to ineligible people, and half of them were covered by civil or military health insurance services. Regarding the diplomatic corps system, the PM noted this system governed diplomats’ appointments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates for decades, and amendments are made to it like any other regulation through Ministerial Legal Committee in Legislation and Opinion Bureau. The diplomatic corps system is the controlling mechanism for appointing diplomats in a “competitive” framework at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, he added. He also stressed that Cabinet and the government “do not pay a price secretly or publicly” in return for approval of legislation, adding that: “the gov’t distances itself from this matter within the framework of its constitutional responsibility and within framework of our national culture.”
Source: Jordan News Agency