KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — A total of 130,101 applications for the People’s Income Initiative (IPR) have been received as of November 2, according to the Economy Ministry.

In a written reply on the Parliament’s website today, the ministry said that out of the total number of applications, 48,606 individuals from the low-income category were eligible to be matched with three initiatives.

The number comprised 20,901 applicants under the Food Entrepreneur Initiative (Insan), 13,174 applicants for the Farming Entrepreneur Initiative (Intan) and 14,531 applicants for the Service Operators Initiative (Ikhsan).

"A total of 97 participants have benefited from the implementation of the programme under Insan, and some participants have managed to achieve an average sales revenue of up to RM14,000 per month.

"Meanwhile, 1,020 participants have been approved for the implementation of the programme under Intan in 16 locations spanning 331.03 hectares nationwide with a total cost of RM92.6 million.

"As for Ikhsan, a total of 1,032 participants were approved for the programme, with a total cost of RM14.2 million,” the ministry said in response to a question from Yusuf Abd Wahab (GPS-Tanjong Manis) in the Dewan Rakyat.

The Economy Ministry also emphasised that the current approach towards eradicating extreme poverty through the implementation of targeted programmes will be continued based on the profile of the heads and members of hardcore poor households as well as the potential localities identified nationwide. — Bernama