SHAH ALAM, 22 Nov: So far, 2,431 Selangorians who have their own businesses managed to qualify for the Selangor State Government Poverty Eradication Blueprint Assistance (BBPKNS).

The Executive Councillor in charge of Poverty and Caring Government, V Ganapathi Rao, said that the State Government will also expand the types of enterprises eligible to receive assistance next year.

According to him, for now, only three types of enterprises are allowed; sewing, food and retail businesses.

“In September, we held a meeting with experts in the field to discuss this matter.

“There were some suggestions, however we are still studying in depth the available list, and virtually every industry is taken into account,” said Ganapathi.

He said this in response to a question from the Assemblyman for Sungai Burong, Dtuk Mohammad Shamsudin Lias, regarding the current status of the BBPKNS.

Elaborating, Ganapathi said that the State Government provides assistance in terms of equipment or machines needed by applicants to be used to develop their existing enterprises.

“We found that recipients of this aid who used this aid prudently have yielded good results,” he said.

The BBPKNS provides assistance to households earning less than RM1,500, who have lived in Selangor for at least five years, and have been operating their business for at least one year with a valid business licence.