BUTTERWORTH: The provision of additional cash assistance of RM100 to Malaysian citizens, aged 18 and above, through the Basic Rahmah Contribution (Sara) programme should not be politicised, but rather seen as a form of concern for the poor, says Datuk Seri R. Ramanan.
The Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said downplaying the value of the RM100 assistance was like belittling the poor in this country because it had a great impact on the daily lives of the less fortunate.
"If he is a rich man, T20, he would indeed look down on RM100, but does he know how many people in this country are in the B40 group…how much RM100 is to them and for rich people, he doesn't understand whether RM100 is a big deal or not.
"Do they know how many kilogrammes of rice RM100 can buy, how many chickens it can buy? So, if the (government) initiative is good, we have to say it is good, if it is not good, we have to say it is not good, not to belittle it," he told reporters after attending the PENN 2.0 Special Fund Financing Briefing and Presentation Ceremony here Thursday (July 24) night.
Explaining further, Ramanan said all parties should show empathy and understand the reality of the lives of low-income groups, especially in challenging economic conditions.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, on Wednesday (July 23) announced several major initiatives as a sign of appreciation from the Madani government to the people, including the one-off RM100 grant under the Sara programme, the delay in toll hikes for 10 highways, and the lower RON95 petrol price subsidy at RM1.99 per litre.
Meanwhile, Ramanan also said the Madani government no longer relies on a single agency such as the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra) in addressing the issues of the Indian community, but has instead introduced various high-impact programmes including financing and entrepreneurship development.
According to him, the government is now implementing a more comprehensive approach involving various agencies such as the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun), Bank Rakyat, SME Bank and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) specifically to empower Indians.
"(It is) increasing the Prosperity Empowerment and A New Normal for Indian Women (PENN) fund from RM50mil to RM100mil, in addition to an additional RM50mil fund for the BRIEF-i programme, the Indian Community Entrepreneur Development Scheme (SPUMI) and introducing Vanigham Financing for Indian Entrepreneurs with financing of RM50mil," he said.
In total, he said that a total of RM417mil had been channelled by the government specifically to implement various initiatives to empower the Indian entrepreneurial community, as of this month.
Earlier, a total of 22 people received total financing involving the PENN, SPUMI, SPUMI Goes Big and BRIEF-I programmes totalling RM932,000. - Bernama
