KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is expected to hold a meeting with all district officers nationwide next week to discuss, among other things, efforts to eradicate hardcore poverty in the country.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said it was the government's effort to address the issue of poverty in the country, especially in rural areas.

"Among the things that will be discussed in the meeting will be the eradication of hardcore poverty and how the district level can implement it," he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PN-Pasir Puteh) who asked about the new programme introduced by the government in an effort to address the problem of hardcore poverty.

Ahmad also added that at the same time that the government has approved RM750 million in Budget 2023 to eradicate hardcore poverty this year with the allocation channelled to the Ministry of Economy to implement three new programmes including providing jobs to certain groups.

He said in addition to this, the government also provides a Rahmah Cash Aid (STR) of RM2,500 to help households with an income of less than RM2,500 and who have five children.

He added that an additional RM1,500 would also be channelled if they are in the eKasih group (under the purview of the Implementation Coordination Unit, Prime Minister's Department).

He said the government is also providing training for the group including business training to enable them to be independent so that they are not too dependent on financial assistance.

"This group needs to be given training before then they can do business. If they cling to the available aid, for how long? Will they be able to get out of hardcore poverty? They need to be trained and become small-scale entrepreneurs," he said.

Ahmad added that the government is providing RM900 million to train hawkers and petty traders through Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) and RM330 million from National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun).

It was reported that the number of registered poor heads of households (KIR) has decreased from 124,744 to 118,217 KIR for the period of Dec 15, 2022, to May 15 this year, while according to eKasih data, registered poor KIR has also decreased from 304,911 to 299,080 KIR in the same period.

-- BERNAMA