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Poverty in Selangor has been effectively eradicated and the rural-urban income gap is being decisively overcome, according to a report released Monday by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia.

The Household Income and Basic Amenities Survey 2016 revealed that the overall poverty rate for Selangor fell from 0.2 percent in 2014 to 0.0 percent in 2016.

This is a major achievement for Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali and the Peduli Rakyat (People Care) welfare programmes delivered by his administration.

Under its philosophy of ‘Returning the State’s Wealth to the People,’ the Selangor government has spent over RM2 billion on Peduli Rakyat initiatives targeted at lower-income households. The impact of these programmes - especially on rural Selangor - is clearly reflected in the figures reported by the Department of Statistics.

The rural-urban income gap in Selangor is closing rapidly, with rural income growing at nearly twice the rate of urban income.

The median income of rural households showed a dramatic improvement with an annual growth rate of 12.3 percent in the two years leading up to 2016, while urban households grew at a rate of 6.9 percent per annum. For the state as a whole, the median income in Selangor grew by 7.5 percent per annum from RM6,214 in 2014 to RM7,225 in 2016.

Inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, showed the most improvement in rural Selangor even as it improved for the state as a whole. Rural Selangor is becoming a wealthier and more equal society. Accordingly, rural poverty fell from 0.6 percent in 2014 to 0.0 percent in 2016.

Previously, Pakatan Harapan parties were perceived as struggling to deliver a relevant proposition for rural voters. The achievement of Selangor clearly illustrates that a Harapan government has been able to preside over the economic transformation of the countryside.

Selangor has proven that the problem of the rural-urban income divide, an issue plaguing most societies, can be overcome by people-centred policies.

Azmin has been consistently making weekly field visits to rural Selangor to deliver Peduli Rakyat programmes to the people and official statistics now clearly show this has borne fruit.

Recent figures also revealed that Selangor is the largest contributor to Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product. Taken together with this week’s data, we can now see that greater prosperity and equality can come with greater productivity.


YIN SHAO LOONG is Strategic Communications Director of the Selangor Menteri Besar's Office. 

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