Selangor Journal: Exco: Selangor mulls expansion of MamaKerja initiative to include housewives
SHAH ALAM, April 4 — The Selangor government is looking into the possibility of broadening the eligibility requirements for its MamaKerja initiative to include housewives.
State executive councillor for women empowerment and welfare Anfaal Saari said the expansion review of the programme was following the overwhelming response received from the public.
“In a discussion with the Menteri Besar (Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari), we plan to make the initiative an annual programme.
“However, we need to review the criteria as one of the concerns raised was to include housewives. Despite not being employed like working mothers, we must provide support for them as well.
“Therefore, we need to review the policy that has been part of the state government’s support for working mothers and women, particularly those with children.
“We hope that by providing access to quality childcare through the programme, we can contribute to the economic empowerment of women in our country,” she told the press after officiating the Selangor Women Khatam al-Quran Perdana ceremony organised by Wanita Berdaya Selangor (WBS) at Dewan Jubli Perak, here today.
Anfaal also stated that the review for expansion would be done in tandem with the existing budget, which opens to 5,000 applicants as outlined in the election manifesto.
“We will discuss this matter (the expansion) for the upcoming 2025 Selangor Budget,” she said.
To date, Anfaal said the number of approved applications for the programme has reached approximately 4,000, whereby the remaining figure to be evenly distributed among the 56 state constituencies, with 20 applicants each.
“Each state assemblyman has been informed since last week, and the deadline for submission is on April 30,” she said.
The MamaKerja initiative was introduced to provide childcare incentives to ease the burden on 5,000 working women across the state.
The effort, which was opened for registration on November 1 of last year, was one of the pledges of the state Unity Government manifesto offered to the people of Selangor in the 2023 Selangor state election last August.
With an allocation of RM5 million, the programme, which is in line with the First Selangor Plan (RS-1) to increase women in the workforce, is open to working women with three children under 12 years old and a household income of no more than RM8,000.
Meanwhile, Anfaal lauded the efforts made by WBS in putting together today’s Khatam al-Quran Perdana ceremony, which saw an encouraging increase in participation to 800 individuals from the 300 recorded last year.
“At the state government level, there is a strong emphasis on spiritual enrichment programmes.
“Prioritising spiritual strength is crucial for nurturing and empowering individuals, and I hope to see this programme integrated into the activities and initiatives carried out by the Pusat Berdaya Wanita (PWB) and other women empowerment initiatives implemented by WBS,” she added.
