I WOULD like to bring to the attention of the public and the government to the petition initiated by the Association for Welfare Community and Dialogue for the government to give priority to the Socso security bill for B40 homemakers.

The petition on change.org has gathered more than 24,000 signatures.

The B40 community are the bottom 40% earners with a household income of less than RM4,850 per month.

Government cash aid is but a short-term measure that does not address the social security problems of the B40 community.

For example, housewives in the category who resign from their jobs to take care of their sick parent or husband has no social security coverage.

We understand that the previous Pakatan Harapan government had initiated a plan to provide social security coverage for this group of people.  The government was to have financed Socso coverage for more than two million B40 earners.

Due to the collapse of the PH government, the draft bill, although ready, did not see passage in parliament.

The Association for Welfare Community and Dialogue urges the government to speed up the tabling of the bill in the next parliamentary sitting so that housewives in the B40 community will receive due support.

The overwhelming support for the petition should spur the government to act fast. – July 18, 2022.

* Ronald Benjamin is secretary for the Association for Welfare Community and Dialogue.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.