KUALA LUMPUR – The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) is expecting welfare assistance applications to rise three folds to 1.5 million following the new national poverty line income (PLI) limit set in July.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Rina Harun said currently the national PLI limit is RM2,208 per month compared to RM980 adopted since 2005.
She said the new limit was based on calculations made according to the methodology in 2019 which was seen as being more realistic to the people now.
“As a result, the national poverty rate rose to 5.6%, this is the reality of the people presently. We (government) took into consideration the livelihood and diet of the people, and as such my ministry is expecting more would be eligible to apply for the various assistance programmes of the ministry.
“So far, there are almost 400,000 monthly aid recipients from the Social Welfare Department which is based on the earlier PLI of RM980,” she said. – Bernama, November 4, 2020
