Ministerial committee reviews compliance of Khatwa programme participants with legal requirements

Manama, The Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs announced the results of its review of all cases involving participants in the Khatwa Programme for Home-based Projects who had added previous service periods to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. This effort aims to safeguard the programme's objectives by ensuring eligible citizens benefit and preventing the misuse of pension and social insurance funds. The committee reviewed 1,413 cases where participants had added previous service periods based on voluntary insurance under the Khatwa programme. All individuals concerned were notified via text messages and announcements on the Social Insurance Organisation's (SIO) social media platforms and Bahrain News Agency (BNA), inviting them to provide proof of a valid production activity licence, renew their registration annually, and submit any necessary documents, information, or clarifications either online through a dedicated webpage or in person at the SIO headquarters. A total of 1,094 cases, representing 77% of those under review, submitted the required documents, information, and clarifications. The committee confirmed that all submissions were thoroughly and systematically reviewed. The committee reported that over 8,000 documents and 190 observations were examined during the review. Following this process, it was confirmed that 133 cases had been actively engaged in home-based productive activities during the service periods in question. The committee underscored the importance of collective efforts to safeguard pension and social insurance funds and take all necessary measures to achieve this goal. Source: Bahrain News Agency