National poverty income line 'rubbish', not reflective of Covid reality - Harapan MP
PARLIAMENT | A Pakatan Harapan lawmaker called on the government to further raise the national poverty line income (PLI) as the current calculation did not reflect the reality of people's economic struggles following the Covid-19 outbreak.
DAP Klang MP Charles Santiago accused Putrajaya of politicising the calculations so that the country’s efforts in tackling poverty would be reflected positively.
PARLIAMENT | A Pakatan Harapan lawmaker called on the government to further raise the national poverty line income (PLI) as the current calculation did not reflect the reality of people's economic struggles following the Covid-19 outbreak.
DAP Klang MP Charles Santiago accused Putrajaya of politicising the calculations so that the country’s efforts in tackling poverty would be reflected positively.
Instead, he pointed out the PLI should take into account the socio-economic state of the country where many citizens have lost their jobs due to the global pandemic.
The PLI was recently revised to RM2,208, reportedly according to the calculations based on the 2019 methodology, from the 2005 benchmark of just RM980.
However, according to the Klang MP, the PLI - divided to food costs amounting to RM1,038 and non-food costs such as clothing, rental, education and transportation of RM1,170 - was not enough to cover living costs in the city.
The spending guide estimates differed with those released by Employees Provident Fund's Belanjawanku expenditure guide in 2019.
In the latter guide, the budget estimated for a single adult was RM2,490, childless couple (RM4,420), married couple with a child (RM5,730), married with two children (RM6,620) and elderly couple (RM3,089).
“Isn’t it ironic that Belanjawaku and the government's PLI study, done in the same year, show a vast difference in estimating the cost of living?
“The political purpose of keeping the PLI low is to show the country’s success in eliminating poverty.
“Households with monthly income below the PLI are considered poor. So, now we know that the PLI of RM2,208 is absolute rubbish,” he claimed during a press conference at Parliament today.
Charles called on the Perikatan Nasional government to raise the PLI benchmark given its status of an upper-middle-income country to accurately reflect the change in income and to identify poor households.
Failing this, he warned the country would be stuck with deepening poverty and growing inequality, leaving generations of people behind.
Previously, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Philip Alston expressed concern the new government was backtracking on a commitment made by the previous Pakatan Harapan government to increase the poverty line.
While praising the increase in PLI last month, Alston also said the level was still too low.
"Because the new poverty rate of 5.6 percent is just one-third of that estimated by almost all independent analyses, I hope that the government will include an even more realistic benchmark in the 12th Malaysia Plan," he had said.
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