Monday July 2, 2012

Govt may extend Socso benefits to cabbies

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is considering a proposal to offer Social Security Organisation (Socso) benefits to taxi drivers.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the proposal was seen to be reasonable because there was no provision in the Socso scheme to cover self-employed Malaysians.

“There is no provision for the self-employed. We are looking into this. Perhaps, we can make a decision soon. Until then, we are helping out, providing a set of tyres and insurance coverage like I announced recently,” he said over the Suara Kami 2012 (Our Voice 2012) programme on Astro Awani last night.

Besides a RM1mil fund for a personal accident insurance scheme for taxi drivers, Najib also announced last week that about 67,000 taxi drivers would be given a two-year RM520 tyre subsidy.

Najib said the Land Public Transport Commission had been instructed to hold a dialogue with representatives of taxi associations to work out a new model for the industry.

The new model was important to ensure that the taxi service was more efficient and satisfactory to the public, considering that there were weaknesses in the existing system, he said.

Suara Kami 2012 gathers the views of people from various backgrounds on ways to improve their livelihood. The proponents of good ideas and proposals are selected to attend a programme at Astro with a special guest who can provide an explanation to the issues raised.

On how he made sure that no one was left out of national development, Najib said the most effective tool was education as it was important for the current and future generations to acquire knowledge and skills.

On another matter, Najib said the Government would be launching the 1Malaysia Youth For You (1M4U) programme to encourage more young people to be involved in voluntary activities.

“We will give them support and a little financial assistance to enable them to carry out such activities, for example, in preserving the environment,” he said.

On the best way to get close to the youths, Najib, in a light-hearted moment, said: “We try to make it lebih sempoi (simpler) but it has its limits.”

Najib said an interactive approach was important for this, considering that “today’s younger generation is different from that of the 1960s”.

“Those days, they wanted ideological change but today’s young people want to be part of the system. We need to provide the opportunities for them. Opportunities to education, business, to be more creative; in my opinion, these are the ways for us to understand the aspirations of the young generation,” he said. — Bernama

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