There is no need for holders of OKU (Persons with disabilities) cards issued by the Social Welfare Department to renew their cards every year to enable them to obtain financial assistance on a monthly basis, says Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.

       She said the cardholders were only required to renew their cards if there were changes in the category and sub-category of disabilities as well as the contact information such as the address.

       She said this in response to a question from Natrah Ismail (PH-Sekijang) on the matter, reported Bernama.

       Siti Zailah said based on statistics, 582,944 persons with disabilities (PWD) had registered with the department as of Sept 30.

       She said from 2018 to Oct 13 this year, a total of 163,647 applications were received by the department, and of that total, 153,627 people had their applications approved.

       As of last August, she said some 92,265 disabled workers with an income of RM1,500 and below received the monthly allowance of RM450, while 83,929 others were recipients of assistance for the jobless PWDs.

       “Apart from that, a total of 25,835 caregivers of PWDs received Assistance for OKU Care and Bedridden Chronic Patients amounting to RM106.8mil as of last August,” she said.