INSUFFICIENT cash aid and stringent eligibility criteria were among the issues raised in the Budget 2022 Public Consultation Paper compiled by the Finance Ministry. 

The public consultation paper covered tax incentives, and how to improve the government’s cash aid programme, fiscal responsibility and procurement policy.

Among the feedback received was that the eligibility criteria for cash aid was too strict and that it was difficult to get approval if the applicant could not furnish the supporting documents.

The paper revealed it was also difficult to determine an applicant’s eligibility based on the size and household income per capita and there was an overlap in the various aid being disbursed to the same individuals which also resulted in ineligible people receiving the aid.

“The amount given out as cash aid is low and is insufficient to fulfil the needs in current times,” the paper said.

Doubts on the verification process, acceptance of cashless aid and difficulty to disburse cash aid to recipients in the interior of Sabah and Sarawak were the other issues raised.  

Responding to the low quantum, Putrajaya said the main purpose of the cash aid was to ease the financial burden of targeted groups.

“Since the government is not a social welfare state, the main purpose of the government cash aid is not to replace the source of income of the rakyat but instead alleviate the financial burden of the targeted group to carry out their lives and daily productivity,” it said.

It said, for example, the Bantuan Sara Hidup was improved upon and turned into the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional to alleviate the burden of the people.

Putrajaya has set aside an allocation for the cash aid in view of the Covid-19 situation, it said.

“Therefore the government will have to weigh in on whether it is necessary to increase the number of recipients but with smaller amounts of aid given out or to give bigger amounts by limiting the number of recipients to targeted groups who are really in need,” it said.

On the stringent application conditions, it said inter-agency cross-checks are important in addition to supporting documents furnished by applicants, to ensure that only those who are truly eligible are receiving the cash aid.

It added that the databases of some agencies including at state levels are still manually done.

“For example, if the wedding and divorce data of a Muslim couple received from the state agencies are incomplete, the application will be rejected even though the person is eligible for the aid,” it said.

Putrajaya said this is also why supporting documents are required from the applicants to avoid exclusion error.

On the household eligibility, the government said the aid is based on the income threshold and eKasih data, among others.

It added that all applications will be cross-checked among 25 government agencies to ensure there was no “inclusion error” whereby ineligible people become beneficiaries of the cash aid.

As for Sabah and Sarawak recipients, the mobile Bank Simpanan Nasional has been deployed to these areas. For those without bank accounts, the state treasury departments will work with the Inland Revenue Board to disburse cash payments.

Budget 2022 will be tabled in Parliament on October 29. The Finance Ministry had collected the feedback from the public as part of a budget consultation process which ended on September 15. – October 8, 2021.