PUTRAJAYA: A total of 22,319 individuals have registered for the People's Income Initiative (IPR) after one week since its launch on Feb 26.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the high take-up rate reflected the success of the scheme which aimed to have 100,000 participants in one year.
"During the discussions at ministerial level, my main concern was that the approach of this scheme was different from direct assistance that was usually given by the government. .
"This scheme requires hardcore poor individuals and those in the Bottom 40 (B40) income group to come forward
"However the registration achieved in a week showed that the ministry has the opportunity to implement this initiative successfully and it is also a method that is widely accepted by the public," he said during a media briefing today.
The initiative is aimed at increasing the income among its participants to RM2,000 monthly, which would subsequently improve the people's livelihoods and eradicate poverty.
Proposed under the revised 2023 Budget, the initiative has three modules parked under it namely Agro Entrepreneur Initiative (Intan), Food Entrepreneur Initiative (Insan) and Services Operator Initiative (Ikhsan).
Of the total registered individuals, Rafizi said the largest amount was taken up for the Insan module at 52 per cent followed by Intan (29 per cent) and Ikhsan (19 per cent).
He said the government was focused on launching the allocated site for the Intan initiative by the first week of April.
"The ministry is discussing with related agencies to expedite the approval for the launch of the first site which involved 20 recipients undr Intan.
"We aim to have it launched and operated in the first week of April," he said.
He said in total, 323.75 hectares nationwide had been identified for the initiative.
As for the first site launch, Rafizi said it would be located in Putrajaya which would make it easier for the ministry to monitor its progress.
"There are 10 acres allocated for 20 recipients in the first batch.
"We estimated that one cycle plantation to generate an average income of between RM2,000 to RM2,500 monthly.
"We will have more lands to match with the rising number of registrations and to identify suitable plants to grow," said the minister.
Under the IPR initiative as well, he added the ministry will meet with leaders from 20 of the poorest districts nationwide to provide targeted assistance for them.
"We will have a meet up soon, maybe in one or two weeks from now, with the district officers, state assemblymen and members of parliament for the identified area.
"We hope this matter is not politicise because most of the areas involved are under the opposition's leadership," said Rafizi.