Shah alam: A total of 60 per cent of zakat recipients in Selangor are individuals who are not originally from the state, according to Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari. He noted that the largest group of beneficiaries of the Selangor Zakat Board (LZS) came from neighboring states, with 10 per cent from the East Coast states and the remainder from other areas.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Amirudin explained that the records of zakat recipients revealed many were not citizens or individuals born in Selangor. "That is the burden or responsibility that must be shouldered in line with rapid economic activity, migration, the growing population, and eventually our efforts to address poverty issues," he stated during the winding-up session of the Enactment of Supply 2026 Bill at the Selangor State Assembly.
Meanwhile, Amirudin highlighted that the state's relative poverty rate remained among the lowest in the country, ranking second after Pahang. It decreased from 14.2 per cent in 2023 to 8.5 per cent in 2024. He pointed out that the number of people considered poor in Selangor in 2024 has dropped to single digits. Selangor and Pahang are the two states with significantly lower relative poverty rates compared to others.
Amirudin also mentioned that the state government regularly updates poverty eradication programmes every six months and refreshes its data monthly, a process also undertaken by LZS. LZS chief executive officer Mohd Khaidzir Shahari reported on April 23 that over 77,800 poor and hardcore poor families received assistance throughout 2024, marking a 19 per cent increase compared to 2023.
Amirudin elaborated on the criteria for measuring poverty, which involves data from the State Development Office (a state-level branch of the Implementation Coordination Unit, Prime Minister's Department) focusing on relative or hardcore poverty and zakat recipients. He explained the Poverty Line Income (PGK) in Selangor is RM2,949, but the eligibility for zakat considers additional factors like the number of children, dependants, asset ownership, and assistance programmes.
He noted that hardcore poverty in Selangor, according to the latest ICU figures released in July or August, involved only two individuals. "And yesterday when I met the ICU, they said only one (hardcore poor) individual remained," he concluded.