PADANG RENGAS: A total of 15,000 heads of households have been lifted out of extreme poverty throughout this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
He said this figure is part of the 80,000 heads of households identified on the extreme poverty list for 2024.
He said the government is committed to assisting the people through targeted aid, despite frequent criticism from some quarters.
"Spending to help the poor reaches tens of billions of ringgit. There are still poor people, so when I took on the responsibility as prime minister, I asked for a list.
"How many people in Malaysia fall into the category of extreme poverty? Extreme poverty means not having enough money to buy milk for children, unable to buy school uniforms, sometimes not having enough to eat.
"I can't sit comfortably as prime minister and let people live like that. So, I requested the list, and we have to put an end to extreme poverty within the year.
"Last year, we resolved 161,000 (heads of households). How was it resolved? We provided them with aid. In 2024, another 80,000 new names appeared. So far, we've resolved 15,000, and we aim to finish by the end of this year," he said.
He was speaking at the Prime Minister's Community Engagement event in Padang Rengas at Arena Square Pekan Isnin here today.
Also present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad and Political Secretary to the Finance Minister, Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim.
At the event, Anwar reminded village leaders to avoid misusing funds provided by the government through the Sejati Madani initiative.
He said through this initiative announced in the 2025 Budget, each village nationwide will receive between RM50,000 and RM100,000 in allocations to conduct programmes that benefit the local economy.
"With Sejati Madani, we (the government) are entrusting the responsibility to the village communities.
"Imams, village heads, penghulu, youth associations, women's groups, mosque committees—get together and decide properly. I provide the funds; you decide what to do for the benefit of the village.
"Some are buying tractors, some boats, and others drones for agriculture, but the decision should be made collectively by village representatives to revitalize the economy," he said.
In the 2025 Budget, Anwar announced that the government has allocated RM1 billion for the Sejati Madani Community Welfare Programme, also known as Sejati Madani.
He said the initiative would be further strengthened through broad partnerships involving top government management to lead Madani Village Adoption efforts.
Anwar had also directed district officers and officials from the Prime Minister's Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) to closely monitor the management of these funds.
"We must organise it carefully because it involves large sums. If RM50,000 or RM100,000 is for one village, how many billions are we spending?
"But it's fine—we're satisfied as long as there's no leakage."