KEEPING his criticism against the Government for their flip-flop on the i-Sinar programme, former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged the former to allow automatic approval for the aid applicants.
“The Government can ask the public to queue up at Employees Provident Fund (EPF) offices across Malaysia to provide proof of eligibility for the i-Sinar programme despite the raging pandemic.
“They can also ease movement control and allow people to go on vacations even though COVID-19 infection in the country has surpassed the 100,000 mark.
“Going by that logic, the Government can also call for snap polls, right?” he asked in a Facebook post.
The i-Sinar programme is aimed at allowing EPF contributors to withdraw a certain sum from Account 1, in a move to aid those who are affected economically due to the pandemic.
Absurd conditions
However, it has become a sour point between political allies, where Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Umno clashed several times during Budget 2021 presentation.
While Umno has called for the Government to ease withdrawals from Account 1, the Cabinet led by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, had imposed several restrictions to it, such as allowing only those who had lost their jobs and had their salaries slashed by 30% to withdraw from it.
Touching on the subject, Najib urged the Government to do away with the conditions attached for the i-Sinar withdrawal to help those in need.
“If a lady who earns RM2,00o a month but had her pay deducted by 20%, is she deemed not eligible?
“But if a manager who earns RM10,000 a month but had his pay slashed by 30%, he will be deemed eligible and can get the i-Sinar funds without the need to bring proof.
“Just make it simple and provide easy approval for i-Sinar, just like the i-Lestari programme,” added the Pekan MP. – Dec 26, 2020.
