A TOTAL of 950 students from the B40 group have been identified nationwide so far to benefit from the national food bank programme, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Speaking at the programme’s launch at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur campus today, he said of the number, 382 B40 students have been identified in UTM so far, adding that the university used a facial recognition system to identify potential aid recipients.

The student-aimed segment of the initiative launched at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in February, and has since then moved on to Universiti Teknologi Mara, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, and a number of other public universities.

The programme is being run with assistance and donations from several supermarkets, hypermarkets, and retailers, such as 99 Speedmart, Econsave, Mydin and several others.

Civil society groups involved in the programme include Kechara Care, and The Lost Food Project, the latter of which is donating personal care items.

Saifuddin said the ministry hopes to also expand to private universities, colleges, and teachers’ training institutes.

Last week, he said the programme is one of his greatest achievements in the one year Pakatan Harapan has been in power, as it not only helps underprivileged families, but also creates volunteer opportunities. – May 3, 2019.