By Siti Rohaizah Zainal
SHAH ALAM, July 18 — The state has received 35,824 requests for Bantuan Kehidupan Sejahtera Selangor (Bingkas) since applications were reopened July 5.
State executive councillor for women empowerment and welfare Anfaal Saari said the new applications will be processed in two to four weeks by community service centres in each state constituency.
She said the initiative, with an RM108 million allocation and which offers RM300 in monthly aid, has been improved by raising the minimum eligible household income level to RM5,000 and below.
“The application criteria were improved as we wanted to widen (the initiative) after seeing a need to help the community between the B40 and M40 groups,” she said during the Hai Selangor programme today.
Anfaal said the Selangor government has amended Bingkas quotas according to the needs of populations in each state constituency, and has increased the quotas for densely populated areas such as Pelabuhan Klang, Meru and Batu Tiga.
“...If a constituency has fewer voters, we decrease the quota. This allows us to fully utilise the allocation,” she said.
On July 5, Anfaal announced that the eligibility criteria for Bingkas had been relaxed to cover households with income under RM5,000, compared with the previous limit of RM3,000 and below, to ensure more residents benefit from the initiative.
She said people can apply for the monthly aid of RM300 for 24 months under Bingkas until August 15 via the SELangkah app or the Bingkas website.
Meanwhile, she reminded Bingkas applicants to check on the status of their requests on the SELangkah app.
[caption id="attachment_213079" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
A visitor scans a SELangkah QR code at Padang Awam Batu Caves on May 8, 2020. — Picture by FIKRI YUSOF/SELANGORKINI[/caption]
Anfaal said the app will inform applicants if their submitted documents are unclear or incomplete, with approved submissions marked green and problematic ones marked yellow.
She said they must check their application statuses often, especially after the August 15 deadline, and update their document submissions if needed.
She added that Bingkas recipients must use up their RM300 aid, which is credited into their SELangkah e-wallet, every month.
“Every month, recipients get RM300 to buy essentials like rice, milk and fruits at supermarket chains like 99 Speedmart and Mydin, but they must finish the amount in a month as the balance will not be carried forward.”
Anfaal said each item purchased with Bingkas aid is recorded, and based on data gathered, the most purchased items were milk, diapers and rice.
“We limit purchases, and among the prohibited items are cigarettes. We however allow the purchase of stationery as we saw a need for those items,” she added.
