THE People’s Income Initiative (IPR) that was launched by the government today is aimed at increasing the wages of the hardcore poor and B40 group to at least RM2,000 a month, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said.

He said the programme would leverage on the public and private sector, as well as the community, to spur economic growth at the grassroots level through a collaborative effort involving the government, the public and strategic partners.

“The RM2,000 target set for the IPR is the minimum targeted income. Farmers, for example, will start enjoying the fruits of their labour only when they make their first harvest but while waiting for the harvest, the government will provide a monthly allowance of RM500.

“All these assistance to be provided have been calculated for 24 months, including preparing land for cultivation, infrastructure, training and facilities,” said Rafizi after launching the programme today.

The initiative will encompass three main segments – Inisiatif Usahawan Tani (Intan), Inisiatif Usahawan Makanan (Insan) and Inisiatif Operator Perkhidmatan (Ikhsan) – aimed at overcoming the people’s daily economic problems such as the shortage of agriculture products, high price of ready-to-eat foodstuff and difficulty in securing workers for certain sectors.

Under the Intan initiative, 323.7ha of federal government land will be opened up for agricultural activities and focus will be on crops that have a high volume of trade and demand.

The land area would be expanded to 2023.4ha through a collaboration with state governments.

“I am confident that state governments will welcome the initiative because apart from overcoming the shortage in food and agriculture products, it will also provide job opportunities in their respective states and avoid people migrating to other states or towns in search of jobs.

“I will therefore meet each and every menteri besar to seek their cooperation to allocate state government land that can be used for the programme,” he said. – Bernama, February 26, 2023.