THE government is expected to bring a complete end to hardcore poverty faced by some 130,000 households in the country by year-end, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said today.

The prime minister said as of March 15, the number of hardcore poor in the country stood at 123,243. 

“The figure was derived from the e-Kasih system but I intentionally increased it to 130,000 because the numbers could increase throughout the year. 

“I’m quite confident with all the initiatives taken to assist this group, and with all the (government) departments and ministries involved being mobilised, we will be able to assist these 130,000 hardcore poor by end of this year,” the Tambun lawmaker said during the minister’s question time.

Anwar was responding to Jalaluddin Alias (Jelebu-BN), who queried o the government’s approach and progress to eradicate poverty holistically and effectively in building a Madani nation.

He also said the government had taken several measures to help alleviate the situation of those in the hardcore poor group.

The introduction of the People’s Income Initiative and the Rahmah cash aid programme aimed at the vulnerable groups, were among some initiatives under the Rahmah umbrella, the prime minister said.

“The total incentive assistance subsidy has reached RM64 billion,” he said. 

Anwar said the government allocated a total of RM750 million for the income initiative alone. Some 22,000 people have registered for it. 

Earlier, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli had said since the launch of the income initiative on February 26, a total of 22,319 legitimate users have registered on the website for the programme.

The income programme, which covers the Agro Entrepreneur Initiative, Food Entrepreneur Initiative and Services Operator Initiative, 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.

Meanwhile, on the cash aid, Anwar said he expected the second phase to be rolled out on April 5. 

“The first phase was rolled out on January 17, involving 8.7 million recipients.

“As of March 28, there are an additional 574,886 new applicants for the programme. 

“With the second phase next month, I expect the following phase to be implemented in August or October this year,” he said. 

Anwar said the aid will reach those in need directly. – March 28, 2023.