PUTRAJAYA’s People’s Income Initiative (IPR) has received encouraging responses with Selangor having the highest number of registrants, said Rafizi Ramli.

The economic minister said since the launch of the IPR on February 26, a total of 22,319 legitimate users have registered on the website for the programme.

“The highest number of registrations came from Selangor, followed by Johor and Perak,” the Pandan MP said today.

The registration in other states and territories are as follows, Kuala Lumpur (8.5%), Negri Sembilan (6.3%), Kedah and Sabah (5.7% each), Penang (5.4%), Pahang (3.3%), Malacca (2.7%), Sarawak (2.4%), Kelantan (1.7%), Terengganu (1.5%), Perlis (0.5%), Putrajaya (0.4%) and Labuan (0.07%).

Rafizi said Putrajaya will focus on getting more participation from other states, especially states that have the most number of hardcore poor.

The IPR programme, which involves three main segments, Agro Entrepreneur Initiative (Intan), Food Entrepreneur Initiative (Insan) and Services Operator Initiative (Ikhsan), is aimed at overcoming the people’s daily economic problems like shortage of agriculture products, high price of ready-to-eat foodstuff and difficulties securing workers for certain sectors.

Rafizi said 52% of the registrations are for Insan, 29% for Intan, 19% for Ikhsan, and 376 off-takers showing  interest in this programme.

Under the Intan initiative, the government will open up 800 acres (323.7ha) of federal government land to offer an opportunity to be involved in agricultural activities and to focus on crops that have a high volume of trade and demand.

The land area will be expanded to 2023 hectares through a collaboration with state governments.

Rafizi said that Intan’s first site will be launched in the first week of April.

“The first 20 Intan recipients will start entering the site within the next three weeks (first week of April).

“With the continued support and involvement of the community, we are confident that this programme will continue to succeed in reducing poverty and promoting economic growth throughout the country,” he said.

Under Budget 2023, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government had allocated RM750 million for the IPR programme.

The IPR programme launched was aimed to spur economic growth at the grassroots level to address poverty and inequality in the country.

Anwar said that the IPR scheme will enable participants to earn between RM2,000 and RM2,500 a month for two years, after which they are expected to use their earnings to generate future income.

He said about 130,000 of the poorest Malaysians, regardless of race, will be given immediate aid to help lift them out of poverty.

Rafizi called on leaders in government, MPs and agencies involved from the poorest districts in Malaysia, for example those from Tongod, Pitas, Kota Marudu, Beluran, Kudat, Telupid, Pusa, Nabawan, Kota Belud, Jeli , Kinabatangan, Kuala Krai, Gua Musang, Bachok, Pasir Mas, Tumpat, Besut, Marang, Hulu Terengganu, Machang and Dungun to encourage participation in the programme. –  March 6, 2023.