Govt Urged To Carefully Classify Household Income To Avoid Missing Out Those In Need -- Backbenchers Club

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- The government is being asked to re-examine the classification of household income to prevent from missing out aid and petrol subsidies to those who really need them, said the Backbenchers Club today.

Its chairman Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah said there is a possibility of missing out and confusion if it is still based on the use of the old income class model.

"I urged the government to look at not using the approach of classifying household income according to the old model because it will cause those who should receive assistance (and) petrol subsidies to miss out.

"They will be left out from receiving this subsidy," he told Bernama in Dewan Rakyat today when asked about the people's angst about the definition of the T15 household category that will not receive subsidy benefits next year.

He also explained that the people's complaints about the T15 household income classification voiced on all platforms, especially social media, will also be given attention by voicing through the people's representatives in Parliament.

Elaborating on the implementation method later, Mohd Shahar said various sources from the local medium such as studies made by the Institute of Higher Learning can also be used as guidelines in addition to looking at the multidimensional poverty index to be examined.

"Multidimensional poverty also needs to be taken into account because we can't just base it on salary, as responsibilities also need to be taken into account because no one should be left out of government assistance.

"It is a good intention to give to those who are eligible based on social conditions, but the implementation is what we need to discuss and refine so that those who are eligible to receive subsidies and social assistance are not left out," he said.

He added that equitable economic distribution also needs to be taken into account to bridge the economic gap of Malaysians.

"The current issue is that the economic data is quite beautiful (such as) in terms of inflation, the growth of Gross Domestic Product and the national debt, but in reality, the distribution of wealth has been disputed.

"Many studies have shown that subordinate workers receive little compensation compared to the top management group. That is why the MADANI Economy wants to improve the economic distribution of all places with taxes," said Mohd Shahar.

On Sunday, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the classification of the T15 category, which will not receive subsidy benefits next year, as stated in Budget 2025 is being refined to ensure that subsidy targeting is done more fairly.

-- BERNAMA