KUALA LUMPUR – The Finance Ministry has proposed to merge the two financial assistance programmes – Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) and Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) – into Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) while expanding its recipient base and allocation.
In his Budget 2021 Speech, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced that the BPR assistance is expected to benefit 8.1 million individuals with an allocation of RM6.5 billion, compared to 4.3 million recipients with an allocation of RM5 billion under BSH 2020.
The new BPR assistance has four thrusts:
1. Households earning below RM2,500 with one child will receive RM1,200, while households with two children or more will receive RM1,800.
2. Households earning between RM2,501 and RM4,000 with one child will receive RM800, while households with two children or more will receive RM1,200.
3. Households earning between RM4,001 and RM5,000 will receive RM500 if they have one child or RM750 if they have two children or more.
4. Bachelors earning RM2,500 and below will receive RM350 and the minimum eligibility age has been reduced to 21 from 40 previously.
At the same time, Tengku Zafrul said the National Poverty Guideline (PGK) has been increased to RM2,208 a month for each household and has increased the monthly assistance for their children below 18 years old as well as for the disabled.
“The total increase involves an allocation of RM2.2 billion or an increase of RM700 million and will benefit more than 400,000 recipients,” said Tengku Zafrul.
The benefits are:
1. Assistance for disabled incapable of working have been increased to RM300 from RM250.
2. Senior citizen assistance, disabled care and immobilised chronic patient assistance have been raised to RM500 from RM350.
3. Disabled workers allowance has been increased to RM450 from RM400.
4. Impoverished Families Children Assistance rate has been increased to RM150 for each child aged seven to 18, or RM200 for each child aged six and below with a maximum of RM1,000 per family. Previously, each child got RM100 with a maximum of RM450 per family
“For instance, if Puan Salfiah have three children with two of them aged six and below and her husband is an employed disabled person, her family will receive RM1,000 each month,” he said. – The Vibes, November 6, 2020
