Higher coverage for low-income families under govt insurance scheme

The third iteration of the People’s Welfare Insurance Scheme sees higher coverage for the death or permanent disability of heads of poor households.

SIKR is a complimentary annual group term takaful plan funded by the government to insure 300,000 heads of households from the hardcore poor and poor groups.

PETALING JAYA:

 The government has launched the third iteration of the People’s Welfare Insurance Scheme, now known as SIKR 3.0, which will offer expanded coverage for low-income households.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said some RM20 million has been allocated for the scheme, which is effective from Oct 1 this year to Sept 30, 2026, Bernama reported.

“For SIKR 3.0, the sum insured has been increased to RM13,500 for natural death, RM26,500 for accidental death, and RM13,500 for permanent disability resulting from accidents,” he was quoted as saying.

The first iteration of SIKR was launched in 2022 with RM13.million in government-paid contributions made to cover 268,887 heads of households.

This was expanded under the SIKR 2.0 last year, with RM10,500 insured for the natural death of household heads, RM25,500 for accidental death and RM10,500 for permanent disability from accidents.

It is a complimentary annual group term takaful plan funded by the government to insure 300,000 heads of households from the hardcore poor and poor groups.

Anwar said the Prime Minister’s Department’s implementation coordination unit will formalise the new scheme via a memorandum of understanding with Prudential BSN Takaful Bhd.

The prime minister also launched the Sahabat Penggerak Madani volunteer initiative which aims to promote the Malaysia Madani agenda and bolster grassroots communication of federal policies.

Anwar said some 3,000 volunteers have signed up so far, tasked with conveying national narratives and serving as speakers, facilitators and trainers.

He said these volunteers will get official IDs, undergo training at the Malaysian Nationhood Academy, and obtain benefits from partners like Mydin hypermarket and Hotel Seri Malaysia. - FMT