KUALA LUMPUR: The improvement of welfare for children with disabilities in the 2025 Budget, including provisions for the autism community, demonstrates the commitment of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry in advocating for the needs of children with disabilities as well as those with rare diseases, says its minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri .
She said the government remains committed to ensuring the welfare of children with disabilities is well taken care of, treated equally, and empowered through the ministry’s allocation in Budget 2025.
"They need to be given attention and treated fairly; that is our role. If we look at the 2025 Budget, we can see provisions for the autism community, which were not included before.
"So we will discuss how we will implement this... But we are very happy that there has been an improvement compared to before. Insya Allah, we may also look into the needs of other conditions, including rare diseases,” she said.
She told this to reporters after attending the Spastic Fun Run 29th Annual Charity Wal-Jog-Wheel-A-Thon at Dataran Merdeka here on Sunday (Nov 17).
Earlier, Nancy said in her speech that as of Oct 31, more than 740,000 persons with disabilities (PwDs) have been registered with the Social Welfare Department, compared to 633,653 PwDs registered in 2023.
"I am pleased to inform you that during the tabling of the 2025 Budget, a total of RM200mil has been allocated to extend the Special Needs Student Allowance of RM150 per month, which will benefit more than 100,000 PwD students across Malaysia. It was also announced that RM5mil will be allocated to develop an Autism Service Centre in our country.
"Our goal is to continue increasing these numbers and gather more accurate data. I would like to encourage everyone to help us raise awareness and inspire every PwD to register with the Social Welfare Department, towards ensuring that no one is left behind, especially in receiving assistance from our ministry,” she said.
Nancy also highlighted that this year, the ministry has approved an allocation of more than RM412,632 for organisations supporting the spastic and physically disabled community nationwide.
"For the Spastic Children's Association of Selangor & Federal Territory (SCAS & FT) alone, a total of RM117,600 has been approved for the Special Needs Students' Allowance, volunteers' tokens, and administrative matters,” she added.
The SCAS & FT event saw 2,000 participants, including 300 persons with disabilities, competing in three categories: 2 kilometres (km), 5 km and 10 km. - Bernama
