BSH payments out on Jan 28
Lim: First phase of aid to follow according to old database
PETALING JAYA: The first phase of the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) payment, previously known as BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid), will be made on Jan 28.
The payment will be made according to the names in the old database and procedure, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday.
“Using the old database does mean that there is a big possibility that some of the recipients are actually ineligible for the aid. However, this must be done in order to facilitate payment before February next year,” he said.
After the first payment has been made, he said the database would then be updated to weed out ineligible recipients who are not from the B40 income bracket.
“After the database has been updated, the remaining BSH payment will be channelled via the second and third phase using the new procedure as announced in Budget 2019.
“The updating process needs to be done for the payment of the second and third phase of BSH 2019.
“This is in line with the aim to improve this programme to be more targeted and dependent on the household size.
“The payment criteria and new procedure will be announced in the nearest time,” said Lim in a statement.
BSH 2019 is expected to benefit 4.1 million households via the first phase of payment amounting to RM300 per household, involving a RM1.2bil allocation by the government.
“As announced in the Budget 2019 speech, the government will continue with the BSH programme in order to help ease the B40 group’s cost of living,” said Lim.
The payment will be credited directly to the recipient’s bank account.
BR1M was renamed to BSH after Pakatan Harapan won the May 9 general election.