The government has announced for those who have had their income and employment affected in the Covid-19 pandemic to submit applications to secure income support allowances for December 2020.

The income support allowance being issued by the government is reserved for those who have lost their jobs or being placed on no-pay leave and those who have had their salaries reduced in the pandemic, along with freelance workers.

Any worker between the ages of 18 and 65 who receive less than MVR 5,000 as a monthly income is eligible for the allowance and can apply to claim it through the Finance Ministry website. Income support allowances are to be given out for a limited period for the months between April and December 2020.

The Job Center created to gauge the status of workers during the pandemic announced that they had now opened up the opportunity to apply for income support allowances for the month of December 2020, and that the deadline for applications was 31 January.

Statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that by 31 December 2020, the government had issued MVR 221.1 as income support to 17,147 applicants.

The regulation to distribute income support allowances was amended to ensure that more citizens could benefit from it, with anyone who has had their income or employment negatively affected since December 2019 now eligible for the allowance.

Income support allowances were distributed in three stages; first in April, May and June of 2019, followed by July, August and September, and lastly, the allowances being distributed right now in the third stage which cover the months of October, November and December 2019.