Pakatan Rakyat has trumpeted its allocation for women in its shadow budget, saying this is 10 times more than that proposed in Budget 2013 by premier and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

NONE PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, at a press conference today, also said the shadow budget places high priority on low-income households.

Commenting on Budget 2013, she singled out the allocation of RM450 million for women’s needs, saying this amounts to just 0.2 percent of the total budget of RM251.6 billion.

In contrast, the shadow budget allocates a RM4.5 billion, which will include a National Women’s Contribution Fund and childcare allowance, she said.

The Fund will operate as a social safety net for five million women homemakers, and cost RM3 billion a year to operate. In the event that they widowed, disabled or divorced, they will be able to fall back on the fund for their needs.

A Pakatan federal government, said Wan Azizah, would contribute RM600 to the fund for every homemaker, while encouraging husbands to add between RM120 and RM1,200 a year.

The target is to ensure that the homemakers have at least RM30,000 in their name by the age of 50, she said. This will increase their disposable income as well.

rodziah ismail pkr selangor Selangor exco Rodziah Ismail, who chairs the state women’s affairs committee, elaborated that, if the money is not utilised earlier, the women could withdraw it as a “personal gift” from the government at the age of 50.

 

The childcare allowance will benefit some 470,000 households earning less than RM1,000 a month, so that working mothers can hire babysitters, said Wan Azizah.

At an average of two children below the age of 12 in each household - and RM1,000 per child annually - the scheme will cost RM940 million to operate. The economic benefit is that women will continue to remain in the workforce.

Asked why Pakatan did not allocate the money to expand and improve nursery schools, Rodziah said that not many poor people can afford the expense of sending their children to such facilities.

A cash allowance would not only be more useful to this group, but will assist the local economy as members of the immediate community could become babysitters.

‘Najib is clueless about women’

PKR investment and trade bureau chief Wong Chen pointed out that the government has been gradually reducing the annual budget for the women, family and community development ministry since 2010:

- In 2010, the ministry received RM2.4 billion.

- In 2011, it was allocated RM2 billion.

- in 2012, this dropped to RM1.9 billion.

- in 2013, it will only get RM1.8 billion.

NONE In comparison to the current budget, there will be a 6 percent drop in allocation in the budget for next year.

“The ministry’s budget does not deal solely with women’s issues but also supports the needs of the community, the disabled and the old,” Wong (left) said.

“In our estimation, the actual amount allocated specifically to women issues, is not more than a quarter of ministry’s budget.”

He also rubbished Najib’s budget speech, tabled last Friday in the Dewan Rakyat, saying he had only focused on women entrepreneurship and free mammograms for women over the age of 40.

“These are the meagre policy outcomes when you get a certain type of man stepping in as women’s (affairs) minister. He has no clue about women’s needs and aspirations,” Wong added.

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