A proposal to pay BD30 ($80) monthly allowance for each of the first four children under the age of 18 will be discussed by parliament at Tuesday's session.

Parliament's financial committee has already approved the proposal aiming to help Bahraini families provide their children with basic daily needs without resorting to loans, reports our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.

Parliament's services committee also sanctioned a proposal enabling Bahrainis aged 40 and above to undergo full medical check-ups every five years.

The Health Ministry said it will implement the proposal through community campaigns and public clinics.

Meanwhile, Tamkeen has unveiled plans to compensate owners of small and medium businesses affected by the recent crisis.

This was revealed in reply to a parliamentary proposal in this regard. Tamkeen paid BD1,061,263 to 366 crippled companies until November 2011.

Tamkeen's support covers service fees, social insurance fees, staff salaries in small companies facing difficulty, office rent, car hiring and insurance fees.-TradeArabia News Service