Pemerkasa: Rakyat's welfare at the forefront, says PM

PUTRAJAYA: The government will continue to protect the people’s welfare in the face of challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, with initiatives to be rolled out under Program Strategik Memperkasa Rakyat and Ekonomi (Pemerkasa) focusing on vulnerable groups, the disabled and those who have lost their jobs.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said an allocation of RM1.2bil had been set aside to benefit 2.4 million recipients including a RM500 one-off payment to those in the B40 group who had lost their source of income.

An additional RM500 payment will be given to Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat recipients who earn RM1,000 and below.

Recipients of both categories are those aged between 21 and 60 and this will not involve any further registration and application process.

“There will also be initiatives to improve assistance extended to the vulnerable group in cities, including the homeless.

“Also, to lessen living costs especially among the city poor, the government will set aside RM100mil to assist them in getting daily necessities and food items, ” he said when unveiling Pemerkasa.

This initiative is expected to benefit 300,000 households in cities nationwide.

For women, Muhyiddin said the government would provide a fund of RM30mil to encourage women entrepreneurship and to assist them in migrating their marketing platform to online.