By Christopher Lidom
KUCHING, Feb 24: The government will allocate RM750 million for the ‘Inisiatif Pendapatan Rakyat’ (IPR) programme to empower the poor and help increase their potential income.
In announcing this, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said several new approaches will also be implemented to address the weaknesses of previous implementation to increase the ability of poor households to earn income.
“Among them are the assistance and facilities provided to participants which are no longer given all at once but on a monthly basis and are monitored, whether it is rental purchase of equipment or employment subsidies for employers who hire hardcore poor participants.
“The economic activities participated should meet the needs of the local community, especially the agro-agricultural and food sectors to ensure continuous demand,” he said when tabling the revised Budget 2023 at the Parliament today.
He added the program also aims for participants to earn between RM2,000 and RM2,500 within a 24-month monitoring period and after that be able to generate their own income through the results obtained.
“In welcoming the Federal government’s efforts, the Premier of Sarawak and the Chief Minister of Sabah have agreed to use part of the petroleum revenue payments to both states for the program to eradicate hardcore poverty,” he disclosed.
On the same note, he said currently, the government is now paying welfare assistance worth RM2.5 billion to more than 400,000 recipients.
He also said in order to speed up the updating of the data to ensure no one is left out of receiving assistance, the Government will whitewash the list of monthly government assistance recipients between Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) and Social Welfare Department (JKM) under one database. — DayakDaily
