KUALA LUMPUR: Some 413,763 less fortunate people received aid worth RM1.028 billion through the Social Welfare Department (JKM) between January and November last year, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said yesterday.
She said the aid recipients comprised people in the target groups, such as senior citizens (117,150), poor families (109,782), children (93,646), disabled (89,461) and disaster victims (3,724).
“Schemes under the department allow us to provide assistance of at least RM100 per month or a maximum of RM450 per month, which is allowed by the Treasury depending on the eligibility of the recipient.
“For 2010, the allocation to help the target groups was higher than RM760 million in 2009 because we focused on helping out senior citizens as we have many of them,” she told a news conference on government aid, here.
She said RM424 million of the RM1.028 billion was spent for senior citizens.
Shahrizat also said that the ministry would continue to emphasise productive welfare approaches through the 1Azam programme this year in an effort to help the target groups emerge from poverty.
She said the programme, which was started last year, was a good step towards increasing the potential of the low-income group to be independent without financial aid from the government.
Asked about senior citizens turning to begging, she said: “The beggar issue is actually a problem involving foreign syndicates. It is something the police are working on with us and drastic measures are needed to check it.”
If the beggars were local, they would be sent to one of the two special institutions for such groups, in Jerantut or Mersing. — Bernama