NKRA on Raising of Living Standards recorded 122 pct success last year
KUALA LUMPUR: The National Key Results Area ( NKRA) on Raising Living Standards of Low- Income Households ( LIH) made an astounding 122 per cent achievement on its Key Performance Indicators ( KPI) last year.
According to the National Transformation Programme ( NTP) Annual Report 2016, this achievement was the product of a multi- agency effort led by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, with a RM66.71 million allocation to all the agencies involved, focusing on the continuation of the Akhiri Zaman Miskin Programme (1AZAM).
The report said the government had spent more than RM1.9 billion on NKRA LIH since 2010 to alleviate the poverty and hardcore poverty among Malaysians.
“The poor and hardcore poor made up only 0.6 per cent of the population in 2014, from 3.8 per cent in 2009,” the report said.
More than 90 per cent of 1AZAM participants successfully increased their annual income by more than RM300.
In 2016, a total of 7,898 new individuals participated in 1AZAM, making up 10,225 new and existing participants who increased their income by above RM300 while 2,329 participants in Beyond 1AZAM successfully increased their income by 50 per cent or more.
NKRA LIH is also committed in assisting families in the bottom 40 per cent household income group ( B40) to generate extra income by providing access to gainful employment opportunities or a chance to prove their entrepreneurial skills.
As to increasingly leveraging on economic empowerment programmes and ensuring effectiveness of LIH programmes in the future, the report said the overall 1AZAM process will be improved, with among others incubating 1AZAM ‘graduates’ as Beyond 1AZAM participants.
The relevant agencies working towards delivering impacts under this NKRA will formulate a way forward for them to be in the M40 or even top 20 per cent of income earners ( T20). — Bernama