By Noor Syahhira Hady
KUCHING: Housewives and female breadwinners who are registered in the national poverty database system (eKasih) are urged to apply for the Suri Voluntary Incentive Scheme (i-Suri) programme if they have not done so.
Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said there are 66,016 individuals who are registered with eKasih and are eligible for i-Suri.
“Of these, 28,748 Sarawakians have registered for the i-Suri programme while 37,268 have yet to do the same.
“Of those who have registered, 11,217 have contributed through their i-Suri accounts while 17,531 have not,” she said.
She said this when speaking at the closing ceremony of a talk on i-Suri, i-Saraan, special aid for single mothers and iSarawakcare held at Waterfront Hotel here on Monday (Sept 14).
Under the i-Suri programme, members must contribute a minimum of RM5 per month or RM60 per annum into their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account in order to be eligible for a special yearly incentive from the federal government up to RM480, which will be credited into their EPF accounts.
“The registration is strictly for those who are registered with eKasih, earning not more than RM1,020 in Sarawak,” she said.
Fatimah also said that those who registered for i-Suri but did not contribute RM60 per annum will miss the opportunity to get the RM480 incentive along with other benefits that are offered by the EPF.
On the state government’s initiative to pump in an additional RM60 credit into the account of i-Suri members who are Sarawakians, Fatimah said it is pending approval from the state cabinet.
“The implementation would cost about RM18.3 million,” she said.
