You do have money to aid more of the poor, govt told![]()
PETALING JAYA: Putrajaya has come under fire for using the old poverty line income (PLI) of RM980 a month as the basis for determining eligibility for welfare aid.
Commenting on a claim that the government could not afford the additional RM3 billion needed if it were to use the new PLI of RM2,208 a month, Geoffrey Williams of the Malaysia University of Science and Technology accused Putrajaya of having its priorities wrong.
He asked whether the poor were not a priority for Putrajaya and said many would have been shocked to learn that the administration could not afford an additional RM3 billion.
“RM3 billion is only 0.9% of the government’s 2021 budget of RM322 billion,” he said.
“There has also been additional funding from the increase in the Covid-19 fund.
“RM3 billion is only 0.2% of the nation’s total gross domestic product (GDP). So it is perfectly affordable. It isn’t even necessary to look for new funding sources as it can be covered by reallocation from the existing budget.”
He said the old PLI was far too low to cover basic needs like food and rent and was even below the minimum wage.
“It creates abject poverty and dependence on family, charity, or food parcels. If you have no access to these, you resort to white flags,” he said, referring to the white flag campaign which started in June when people hung it outside their homes as a sign of distress.
He said giving aid based on the revised PLI would not benefit all in the M40 group but only those whose income had fallen below RM2,208.
“Many would likely have savings and other sources of income. So they wouldn’t qualify.”
Last Wednesday, deputy women, family and community development minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff told the Dewan Rakyat that Putrajaya had been giving welfare aid based on the RM998 PLI during the pandemic.
She said the government could not afford the additional RM3 billion needed if it were to use the new PLI. However, she added that the welfare department would start using the new PLI next year.
Hartini Zainudin, co-founder of the Yayasan Chow Kit crisis centre, said Siti Zailah had given a “flimsy excuse”.
“I’m insulted that her response was so dismissive,” she said. “Does she know how many of the poor have been affected by the pandemic? But she’s left it to the NGOs and community-based organisations to step in and do the ministry’s job.”
She asked why the ministry could not rearrange its current programmes to provide the funds.
“Why can’t you feed the poor? That’s your ministry’s job. You’re accountable,” she told Siti Zailah.
A SIMPLE SOLUTION WOULD BE TO TAKE AWAY ALL THE ALLOWANCES OF CABINET MINISTERS AND ROYALTY AND USE THAT MONEY TO HELP B40 AND M40.