PARTICIPANTS of the People’s Income Initiative (PII) under the Food Entrepreneur Initiative (Insan) and Agro Entrepreneur Initiative (Intan) categories are expected to rise above the poverty line in two years, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

Insan participants can find other business models, such as opening stalls, after generating an income of at least RM2,000 per month, he said.

“After they are successful and move on to other business models such as having their own stalls, the opportunity will be open to other participants.

“If this is done nationwide, we will have created a mechanism to help the hardcore poor and the B40 income group on a more sustainable basis,” he said after launching a self-service machine at the Sentral Station PII.

Rafizi said the current programme is different from previous ones as the assets belong to the government, which lets Putrajaya ensure participants qualify for the initiative and show interest in enhancing their income.

For example, participants only need to provide capital for food costs and would not be charged for machine rental or electricity.

“The entrepreneur only needs to come up with working capital,” he said. “This will help ensure the goods are sold cheap, that is, between RM1 and RM5.”

The minister said the government is targeting 100 self-service PII machines in high-traffic locations such as LRT stations in the Klang Valley and universities nationwide.

His ministry is aiming for the machines to reach 5,000 recipients under the Insan programme.

At present, 1,100 strategic partners have expressed interest in providing the PII machines.

The PII, encompassing the Insan, Intan and Ikhsan (Service Operator Initiative), was launched on February 26 to raise the people’s income due to the rising costs of living.

The government is targeting 100,000 participants from the hardcore poor and B40 income group to join the initiative so they may earn at least RM2,000 monthly to exit poverty. – Bernama, May 9, 2023.