PUTRAJAYA: The government is reinstating aid to the singles group under the Bantuan Sara Hidup or BSH.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in a statement today said as a start the government will give RM100 to all individuals who were single, registered under the 2018 BSH database.
“The payout will be made end of March, where it will be directly credited into recipients’ bank accounts.
“The payout is expected to benefit some three million recipients with an allocation of RM300 million from the government,” he said.
The BSH under the Pakatan Harapan government is similar to the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M), introduced by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and was aimed at providing financial aid to the low-income group in Malaysia.
Under BR1M, those who were single, above 21 years old and earning less than RM2,000 a month received cash handouts of RM450 before the category for singles was abolished in the last Budget.
Lim also said the 2019 BSH payout amount for singles would be reviewed again and will be presented in the Cabinet soon, before subsequent payouts.
He also said that Home MinisterTan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had previously, raised a proposal that youths who were still single and with small salaries’ should also be financially assisted by the government.
The first phase of BSH payment amounting to RM300 per household, involving RM1.2 billion allocation by the government was disbursed on Jan 28.