PARLIAMENT The government is considering segregating Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) by gender, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

NONEDeputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan said during Question Time that the government  received a suggestion to ensure that male and female representatives of the family get a share of the aid.

"We received complaints that women in the family are not receiving the money, if given to the males," Ahmad (left) said.

"So, let's say BR1M is RM600, we might put into two envelopes of RM300 each and give each to the man and the woman.”

He was answering a supplementary question from Nawawi Ahmad (BN-Langkawi).

Ahmad also said the new BR1M aid the government's promised, at RM1,200 a month, could help a family subsidise its expenditures for two months.

"We believe with RM1,200 it can bear the cost of two months' of expenditures. For the other 10 months, the family has to look for its own source," he said.

"With a normal rural family, RM600 should be enough to cover expenditures for one month," Ahmad said.

He said the new BR1M rate was set to be tabled in the 2014 Budget and would be effective from next year.

"The government's ability (to handout BR1M) is not even in question," he added.