The people's appreciation towards government assistance, such as the 'Back to School' and 1Malaysia People's Assistance (BR1M) programmes has left the opposition worried, noted Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Noh Omar.

The Selangor Umno deputy chairperson dismissed the opposition's insinuations that it was responsible for prompting the Barisan Nasional (BN) to offer the assistance.

"The BN has long been providing aid to the people, not just when the election is approaching, among others, the monthly RM200 subsistence allowance to fishermen and monthly RM300 to poor households through the Social Welfare Department.

"These do not include the subsidies to padi farmers totaling RM1.2 billion last year and RM2.2 billion this year," he said while launching the state-level Skim Amanah Rakyat 1Malaysia (SARA 1Malaysia) in Tanjong Karang today.

On the SARA 1Malaysia investment scheme, Noh said RM500 million had been set aside for about 100,000 households with a monthly income of below RM3,000 to apply, beginning tomorrow.

- Bernama