KUALA LUMPUR - The government will allocate RM500 million next year to help more hardcore poor to increase their income through the People's Income Initiative (IPR) programme.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the IPR launched this year, managed to increase the monthly income of over 2,000 IPR participants, including under the INSAN programme where the participants could earn sales revenue of up to RM14,000 per month.
"Efforts to eradicate hardcore poverty have continued to see progress with the latest data showing a drop of the hardcore poverty rate from one per cent in 2020 to 0.2 per cent or only 18,000 households today, which we believe can be addressed before the end of this year," he said when tabling the 2023 Budget at Dewan Rakyat today.
In addition, Anwar said the government has agreed that all MySTEP appointees will be offered to join development skills programme under MyFutureJobs where the platform will perform job matching to help them build a future career and earn a higher income.
He said the initiative would offer 50,000 contract job opportunities in the public sector and government- linked companies (GLCs) starting January 2024.
Anwar, who is also the Minister of Finance, said the government will continue to encourage the vulnerable group, such as persons with disabilities (PWD), ex-prisoners and the elderly to find meaningful jobs.
As such, to encourage the private sector to employ the vulnerable group, he said the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) will provide a special incentive of RM1,500 per month for six months to support the entry of over 3,300 job seekers with an allocation of RM30 million.
He said the one per cent job opportunity policy for PWDs will also be extended to ex-convicts and the elderly through MyFutureJobs job matching and MySTEP programmes.
Vulnerable groups participating in MySTEP will be offered contractual placements with an allowance of RM1,500 for a period of six months,” he said.
In addition, Anwar said the Perkeso Career Development Programme will continue so that those involved in the gig economy have the opportunity to attend career development and micro-credential training programmes.
He said RM35 million would be provided for training fees and income replacement incentives for 9,000 gig workers who attend training courses. - Bernama, October 13, 2023
