KUALA LUMPUR: The Poverty Line Income (PGK) is not the sole measure used when evaluating welfare applications at the Social Welfare Department (JKM), the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said other factors are also taken into account to ensure those who are eligible and in need can access government assistance.
Nancy said these additional assessments include aspects such as the social support from the family as a whole, chronic health problems, the need for special care, psychosocial issues and others.
"The welfare assistance provided through JKM is based on eligibility and need (means-tested)," she said.
"Currently, JKM applies the PGK as one of the basic eligibility criteria for welfare assistance applications."
Nancy was responding to Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muar - Muda), who asked whether the ministry planned to raise the household income ceiling for applicants seeking JKM assistance.
From January 2024, she said JKM began using the new PGK, which is the PGK 2022, with a threshold value of RM1,198.
Nancy said in the process of reviewing and updating the PGK 2022, the Implementation Coordination Unit, Prime Minister's Department and the Department of Statistics Malaysia have carried out this process alongside the Household Income and Basic Amenities Survey.
"Therefore, I would like to emphasise once again that JKM applies a means test in evaluating each welfare assistance application," she said.
"Each case is handled by considering the actual circumstances, including factors such as economic situation, localised needs and others, rather than solely looking at their income level."
In supplementary questions, Syed Saddiq asked whether the government was considering setting up a hub or one-stop centre for welfare services to streamline and avoid overlap in assistance.
Nancy, replied that there were no such plans at present but acknowledged that other organisations were also providing support to those in need.
"There are no such plans at the moment. We are aware that, in addition to JKM, Zakat and many other entities are also providing assistance.
"We allow this so that it can help those in need. At present, perhaps many people are not receiving enough assistance, especially those in urban areas.
"That's why, even if someone says the assistance is not enough, we will consider factors such as how many children they have, the household composition—for example, if the mother is elderly—and provide additional support," she said.
In response to a question from Kesavan Subramaniam (Sungai Siput - PH) on whether the ministry planned to set up a monitoring system to ensure the effectiveness of the new assistance rates, Nancy said audits and monitoring teams were already in place.
"There is no specific committee, but it is continuously monitored administratively and internally," she said.