By Yasmin Ramlan
SHAH ALAM, Nov 17 — The state government is digitising its entire Skim Mesra programme, from the registration process to e-voucher redemption.
This transformation should be fully implemented by mid-next year, involving both the Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE) and Skim Mesra Insan Istimewa (SMIS) initiatives.
[caption id="attachment_335208" align="alignleft" width="411"]
State executive councillor for social welfare Anfaal Saari responding to queries during the Selangor State Legislative Assembly session at the State Secretariat Building in Shah Alam, on November 16, 2023. — Picture by HAFIZ OTHMAN/SELANGORKINI[/caption]
According to the state executive councillor for women empowerment and welfare, Anfaal Saari, Selangor is actively engaged in the digitisation process as a strategic measure to minimise and prevent human errors in its delivery of services.
“There is a need to automate our processes, enabling us to increase the quality of services efficiently and reduce human errors.
“By digitising Skim Mesra, the application and voucher redemption can be made online by applicants, heirs (waris), and service centres via mobile phones or laptops,” she said during her wind-up speech on the 2024 Selangor Budget at the State Legislative Assembly session today.
Anfaal also dismissed suggestions that digitising the entire process would be cumbersome for senior citizens, noting that over 160,000 individuals aged 60 and above have used the state health mobile platform SELangkah since it was first introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
"I firmly believe Selangor’s people, regardless of age, possess commendable digital literacy skills and have adeptly embraced the efficient use of digital applications.
“This is proven through the SELangkah app, which has been widely used since its introduction during the Covid-19 pandemic. As of today, it has garnered significant numbers of senior citizen users, with 166,982 of them aged above 60,” she said.
Anfaal was responding to Sungai Burong assemblyman Mohd Zamri Mohd Zainuldin, who raised concerns about digital literacy among senior citizens, particularly with the online operation of the Skim Mesra initiative.
For further information on the Skim Mesra initiative, the public can visit https://e-mesra.yawas.my/mesra/
