40,923 women registered for i-Suri — Hannah Yeoh

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KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 40,923 women have registered under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF)’s Suri Incentive (i-Suri) voluntary contribution scheme as at yesterday, said Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh.

She said Phase 1 and Phase 2 of i-Suri was voluntary contribution and targeted the women whose profiles enlisted in the National Database on Poverty (eKasih) until June 30 and met the eligibility requirements.

“Implementation of Phase 1 and 2 does not involve contribution from the husbands but members’ own (contribution) for the period of two years (2018 and 2019).

“The next phase, expected in 2020, is the implementation of Phase 3 of i-Suri where compulsory contribution will be introduced.

“It is more comprehensive with a set target to build a social security base for 45.4 per cent of women outside the labour force,” she said during oral question-and-answer session at Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

She said this in her reply to a question from Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun (BN-Beaufort) who wanted to know the number of targeted housewives to receive EPF contributions through i-Suri by 2020 and the number of husbands who had volunteered to contribute to the scheme.

However, Yeoh said, the implementation of the mandatory contribution was subject to the findings and fine-tuning of the legal constraints faced due to the existing laws, policies and regulations.

She said that after legal constraints were resolved, appropriate mechanism would be identified to enable the implementation of Phase 3 and the rest. — Bernama