Social role of the State focus of meeting between President of the Republic and Social Affairs Minister

Tunis: The social role of the state was the focus of a meeting between President of the Republic Kais Saied and Social Affairs Minister Kamel Madouri at Carthage Palace on Thursday. According to a statement from the presidency, this duty is assigned to the state by the demands of the people and the constitution, and is integrated with the policies it pursues in all other sectors, which are numerous and where harmony and integration between them is necessary to achieve the desired goal of justice, equity and the elimination of all causes of poverty and misery. The meeting discussed the automatic adjustment of pensioners' benefits in the public and private sectors. The President of the Republic called for an accelerated increase in the guaranteed minimum wage and in the allowances for needy families, as well as an increase in the guaranteed minimum wage in industry and in the disability allowances paid by the National Health Insurance Fund under the system of insurance against occupational injuries and disea ses. The President of the Republic said that these increases will reduce poverty rates, adding that these increases must be accompanied by other measures and periodic increases to reduce social disparities and achieve a decent life for every citizen. In this context, he recalled that every citizen has the right to work and to a fair wage, and that the State must guarantee prevention and health care, as stipulated in the Constitution, as well as the right to social security. The President of the Republic called for the urgent revision of a number of legal texts, such as those relating to social security, fixed-term contracts or contracting, which he considered to be a disguised form of slavery and labour exploitation. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse