60 PER CENT OF SELANGOR ZAKAT RECIPIENTS FROM OUTSIDE THE STATE - AMIRUDIN

SHAH ALAM, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- A total of 60 per cent of zakat recipients in Selangor are individuals who are not originally from the state, says Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

He said neighbouring states made up the largest group benefiting from the Selangor Zakat Board (LZS), followed by 10 per cent from the East Coast states, while the rest were from other states.

“Yesterday, when I reviewed the records of zakat recipients, not all of them are citizens or individuals born in this state.

“That is the burden or responsibility that must be shouldered in line with rapid economic activity, migration, the growing population and eventually our efforts to address poverty issues,” he said during the winding-up session of the Enactment of Supply 2026 Bill at the Selangor State Assembly here today.

Meanwhile, Amirudin said the state's relative poverty rate remained among the lowest, ranking second after Pahang, and had decreased from 14.2 per cent in 2023 to 8.5 per cent in 2024.

“The number of people considered poor in Selangor in 2024 has dropped to single digits. We are one of two states (Selangor and Pahang) with a significantly lower relative poverty rate compared to other states,” he said.

Amirudin said the state government constantly updated poverty eradication programmes every six months and refreshed its data monthly, which was also carried out by LZS.

LZS chief executive officer Mohd Khaidzir Shahari was reported on April 23 as saying that more than 77,800 poor and hardcore poor families were assisted throughout 2024, a 19 per cent increase compared to 2023.

Elaborating further, Amirudin said there were two criteria for measuring poverty — first, the data issued by the State Development Office (state-level branch of the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU), Prime Minister’s Department), which involved relative or hardcore poverty, and second, zakat recipients.

He said the method of determining the Poverty Line Income (PGK) and eligibility for zakat also differred.

“The PGK in Selangor is RM2,949 but this method is not the same as zakat. For zakat, factors such as the number of children, dependants including parents, asset ownership including houses, whether renting or owning, and various assistance programmes are considered, which explains the increase.”

“We can see that hardcore poverty in Selangor, based on the latest ICU figures released in July or August, involved only two individuals. And yesterday when I met the ICU, they said only one (hardcore poor) individual remained,” he said.

-- BERNAMA