THE Human Resources Ministry is taking steps to tighten the standard operating procedure on channelling funds for the PenjanaKerjaya hiring incentive programme, to prevent issues of false claims and misappropriation of funds from recurring, its minister M. Saravanan said.

He said his ministry has identified the weaknesses and would improve the regulations.

“I assure you we will tighten the existing rules so that this does not happen again,” he said when winding up the debate on the Employment Insurance System (Amendment) Bill 2022 at the committee level in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a question from M. Kula Segaran (Ipoh Barat-PH) regarding the ministry’s steps to ensure the benefits received through the amendment to the Employment Insurance System Act 2017 (Act 800) were not misappropriated like the PenjanaKerjaya funds.

Meanwhile, Saravanan said it was too early to know the actual number of false claims and the amount of funds misappropriated under PenjanaKerjaya, as it was still being investigated.

It was previously reported that false claims and misappropriation of the funds involved about RM100 million in total.

Earlier Saravanan, when bill for second reading, said the amendment was to increase the maximum monthly salary ceiling limit for contributions from RM4,000 to RM5,000.

He said this would improve the Social Security Organisation’s social security protection by increasing benefits such as Jobseeker’s Allowance and Early Re-employment Allowance.

The Dewan Rakyat passed the Employment Insurance System (Amendment) Bill 2022. – Bernama, July 25, 2022.