THE Welfare Services Department is still using the 2005 national poverty line income (PLI) as a way to keep the cost of aid to the poor low, Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff said.

“We have discussed why we are still using the old PLI and were told that the bill would come up to RM3 billion if we used the new one,” the deputy women, family and community development minister told the Dewan Rakyat during the ministry winding-up session today.

“The (higher cost) is very difficult under the current circumstances.” 

According to the Rantau Panjang MP, up to August, there were 513,000 recipients of government aid under the Welfare Services Department, amounting to RM1.6 billion.

Siti Zailah was responding to Nurul Izzah Anwar’s (Permatang Pauh-PH) question on why the government is still using the 2005 PLI of RM980 instead of the revised PLI.

According to Nurul Izzah, MPs could not register new aid recipients under the new PLI as the Welfare Services Department is still using the old PLI.

“We are unable to include deserving Malaysians because the Welfare Services Department’s criterion is RM980 instead of the new PLI, which is RM2,208,” she said.

The Permatang Pauh MP leader said the department should revise its database to allow those who fall under the new PLI to qualify for government aid.

In July, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) revised the PLI from RM980 to RM2,208.

DOSM said the new figure was obtained based on changes in methodology that now emphasised healthy eating and quality basic needs.

The national PLI was revised following the 11th Malaysia Plan’s launch where it was stated that there was a need for Malaysia to review its poverty level indicator.

The 2005 methodology was based on the minimum food requirements of each household member and 106 non-food items based on the spending patterns of the country’s bottom 20% group (B20) in the 2004-2005 household expenditure survey.

Siti Zailah, however, promised that the government will use the new PLI for next year’s social aid. – October 6, 2021.