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Major General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor (third left) Chairman of Taqdeer Awards and Deputy Director General of GDRFA Dubai with offials pose for a photo with workers from companies at the 4th cycle of Taqdeer Award at Dubai World Trade Centre on Monday. Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News

Dubai: Around 55,000 workers in Dubai will get a privilege cards to enjoy between 30 to 15 per cent discount on retails and restaurants near their camps.

The new cards will be awarded to excellent workers and companies as part of the Taqdeer Award, which offers 35 incentives from government agencies and international private companies worth millions of dirhams.

According to Major General Obaid Muhair Bin Surour, Chairman of the Taqdeer Award, Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Labour Affairs (PCLA) in Dubai and Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai), the project features two types of cards.

Two cards

The first is a Gold Card that will be awarded to companies with four and five-star ratings in the Taqdeer Award to obtain the incentives provided by government departments. The second is a Blue Card that will enable eligible workers to obtain special discounts from malls and commercial establishments located near their accommodations.

“Workers can get the cards to enjoy discounts from more than 300 retail shops. Excellence Cards is a pioneering project that aims to enhance efforts to establish sustainable policies and standards in labour care and ensure that company owners and workers maintain their responsibilities and obligations towards each other,” Maj Gen Bin Surour said at a ceremony on Monday at the Rashid Hall of Dubai World Trade Centre.

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The initiative is a token of appreciation for the excellence shown by companies and workers in meeting high labour practice standards. Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News

The initiative is a token of appreciation for the excellence shown by companies and workers in meeting high labour practice standards.

In its initial phase, the Excellence Cards will be given to 15 major national and international companies that won four and five-star ratings in the fourth edition of the Taqdeer Award in 2020, as well as the 55,000 workers of these companies.

Care for workers

The award, held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, recognises companies for their care for workers.

The project offers more than 35 incentives extended by four government agencies: Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), Dubai Municipality and General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai). The project also features a wide range of incentives and discounts extended by private institutions for the workers of these companies.

Maj Gen Bin Surour honoured four companies for getting five-stars level, 11 companies for reaching four-stars level and 14 companies for achieving the three-stars level.