KUCHING: The state government’s initiative to provide a social support system for the people in the form of various assistance from cradle to grave is a manifestation of its care and concern.
“We do not just look at the physical development of our state such as roads and so on, we must also consider our social support system,” said Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development (KWKPK) Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.
“Bantuan Ibu Bersalin (BIB) is one of the state government’s initiatives to help mothers during their confinement period, where the RM450 provided can be used by mothers to purchase equipment and items for their newborn.”
As of Oct 30, Sarawak registered 24,647 mothers who had given birth, of which 13,309 (54 percent) had registered for BIB.
Under the Endowment Fund Sarawak (EFS) where RM1,000 is provided for each Sarawakian at birth starting last year, a total of 20,192 individuals (79 percent) have registered for EFS out of the total 25,635 ‘K’ status births in Sarawak as of Oct 30.
KWKPK had made payments to 18,301 individuals (91 percent) of the applicants.
“The Special Annual Grant (GTK) assistance has been well received by taska (nurseries) and tadika (kindergartens) in Sarawak. The relaxation of criteria on the usage of this aid in light of the Covid-19 pandemic has helped them to cushion the impact.”
As of Oct 30, a total of 3,020 early childhood education institutions (97 percent) of the 3,105 such institutions in Sarawak had applied for GTK and received the RM5,000 grant.
As for the Kenyalang Gold Card (KGC) for senior citizens aged 60 and above, there have been 190,115 applications as of Oct 30 – of which 161,369 cards have been printed and 110,164 of them distributed. Thus far, there are 157 strategic partners for KGC throughout Sarawak.
“Another assistance is the Death Compassionate Assistance (BIK) for KGC holders. A total of 1,091 individuals have already applied and 878 have been approved.”
On the special aid for kidney patients, Fatimah said a total of 88 applications had been received as of Oct 30, of which 61 had been approved.
