Joint Services, health workers to receive $25,000 cash grant

Members of the Disciplined Forces along with healthcare workers are among the more than 60,000 public servants set to receive the $25,000 one-off cash grant announced by President Irfaan Ali last Thursday.

A circular from Finance Secretary Mr. Sukrishnalall Pasha to heads of budget agencies today, stated that “all traditional public servants, defined to mean those employed in Ministries, Departments not under Ministerial control, Regional Administrators, and Public Service-related agencies i.e. Commissions Secretariats and those who are engaged on the contract positions reflected in the inventory of authorized positions of the traditional Public Service and persons on contract outside on the inventorised positions. This includes teachers and healthcare workers, all members of the Disciplined Services, Government, Police and Guyana Defence Force Pensioners.”

The circular said, however, that the cash grant does not apply to agencies that granted salary increases or bonus payments during 2020.

The Government had last year advised heads of agencies against increasing salaries or granting bonuses. However, some agencies went ahead and did so. Those individuals who benefited from those increases or bonuses will not get the cash grant.

The President, on Old Year’s Day announced that more than $2 billion would be paid to over 60,000 workers within the Central Government, statutory bodies, subvention agencies, public corporations, teachers, medical workers, members of the joint services, government pensioners and staff of the University of Guyana to assist them with the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Ali said the initiative also extends to current workers of the Guyana Sugar Corporation.

(Reproduced from the Department of Public Information)