By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Oct 29: The Federal government will provide RM2,000 in financial assistance to households with an income of less than RM2,000 per month and with three or more children in 2022.
This assistance, which comes under the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) aid programme, according to Finance Minister Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, will be an increase of RM200 as compared to RM1,800 which was the highest amount given under Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat previously.
The government will also provide an additional assistance of RM500 to single parents who have dependent children with a monthly income of up to RM5,000.
“This means that a single mother or father with three or more children is eligible for a maximum BKM of RM2,500,” said Tengku Zafrul when tabling Budget 2022 in Parliament today.
Apart from that, an additional assistance of RM300 will also given to senior citizens’ households.
“In total, BKM will benefit more than 9.6 million recipients with an allocation of RM8.2 billion, an increase compared to 8.6 million recipients with an allocation of RM7 billion under Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat,” said Tengku Zafrul.
In terms of assistance by the Social Welfare Department which will be allocated RM200 million to help the needy and marginalised, new guidelines allowing those earning less than RM1,169 per month are now eligible for welfare assistance.
He said efforts to expand the coverage of social protection is the result of the government’s commitment to ensure that assistance reaches the hands of those in need, also taking into account the current rising cost of living.
“In total, RM2.4 billion in welfare assistance will be allocated to benefit more than 440,000 needy households,” said Tengku Zafrul. — DayakDaily
