RM250 nursery fees for parents with monthly income of less than RM900

Parents with monthly income of not more than RM900 who enrol their children in private nurseries registered with the Social Welfare Department (JKM) will receive a monthly assistance of RM250 in nursery fees.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, when tabling the 2014 Budget, said the move would benefit 3,334 children under the age of four and involve an allocation of RM15 million.

He said the government, to ease the burden of civil servants, would also extend the eligibility for the subsidy of public sector nursery fee of RM180 per month to households with a monthly income of RM5,000, compared with RM3,000 previously.

The government, he said, would also double the rate of daily allowance for children in institutions under JKM from RM1.50 to RM3 per day for school-going children and from 50 sen to RM1 a day for children who have yet to start schooling.

"The scheme will benefit 4,500 children in JKM institutions nationwide," he added.

In addition to that, Najib said, the daily allowance for senior citizens in JKM institutions would be raised from RM10 to RM30 a month to cater for their daily needs.

On programmes for the development of women and family institutions, he said, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry would be allocated RM2.2 billion to implement various programmes, including Akademi Inovasi Wanita under the purview of the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) which would draw up programmes relating to leadership, entrepreneurship and
innovation.

The programmes include  the Women Directors Programme which prepares women to be Board of Directors members; Purple DNA Entrepreneurship Programme such as Purple Licious', a mobile food kiosk, and an additional 23 senior citizen activity centres.

Najib also said that as an addition to the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) immunisation service and mammogram screening, the government proposed to provide free breast prosthesis and special bras for breast cancer patients.

The initiative, he said, would assist in offsetting the cost of purchasing the support material, estimated to cost about RM1,200, and would benefit more than 8,000 breast cancer patients. The allocation set aside for the purpose is RM9 million.

"I would also like to announce that the government will purchase four special buses for the implementation of the Mobile Family Centre which will provide advisory services related to family matters, dietary requirements, screening for chronic diseases, as well as testing for glucose and cholesterol," he added. - Bernama