SHAH ALAM, Dec 25 — The Bantuan Kehidupan Sejahtera Selangor (Bingkas 3.0) initiative, which will commence in July, will allow heads of households who support elderly parents to be eligible for RM300 in assistance a month.
State executive councillor for women empowerment and social welfare Anfaal Saari said the additional criterion is an alternative measure to help ease the high cost of living, particularly among urban residents.
“Bingkas 2.0 will end in June. For the next phase, we will introduce a new criterion to make children who are struggling financially and their parents eligible to receive RM300 a month.
“Although the state government provides a RM150 shopping voucher to senior citizens through Skim Mesra Usia Emas, some still depend on their children. Therefore, we want to assist these households,” she told Media Selangor.
Previously, Bingkas was offered to families with a monthly income below RM5,000, who had at least two dependants under the age of 18, were Malaysian citizens, and had resided in Selangor for more than 10 years.
Anfaal said the additional criterion is considered capable of meeting people's needs, as Selangor recorded the highest decent living cost based on the Malaysia Cost of Living Indicator 2024.
“Although Bingkas cannot solve the cost-of-living issue entirely, it can at least help low-income families. For now, we are maintaining the recipient count at 30,000 families.
“Besides Bingkas, the MamaKerja initiative, which offers financial assistance of RM100 a month for a year to working mothers, is also a step towards easing the cost burden of urban residents,” she said.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Statistics Department (DOSM) reported that Selangor recorded the highest cost of living for all household sizes at 92.0 index points, followed by Penang (84.2) and the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (83.1).
It also revealed that Shah Alam recorded the highest Decent Living Expenditure Index (PAKW) at the state capital level, while Petaling recorded the highest at the administrative district level.
