KUALA LUMPUR: Calls for the National Recovery Council (NRC) to be disbanded is a setback to the government's efforts to revive the nation's economy post Covid-19.
NRC member Datuk Dr Hartini Zainuddin said the council had been playing its role by putting forward proposals, as well as complementing government initiatives.
"The KPI (key performance indicator) of the NRC is ensuring that we do out best in complementing government initiatives.
"We made suggestions when the borders should open, and we are looking into tourism and economy, among other other things. We divided our focus into pillars in the economy, education, and small and medium enterprise sectors," she said yesterday.
Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi earlier called for the NRC to be abolished, saying that its functions were unclear and unecessary.
Zahid, who is also Umno president, claimed NRC's functions overlapped with the roles played by think tanks and other government agencies that act as advisors and implementation bodies.
Hartini, however, said efforts to restore the country post Covid-19 are expected to take 10 years and this task would be difficult to carried out by any single body.
On the welfare of Malaysians, Hartini, a child activist who co-founded the Yayasan Chow Kit child-crisis centre, said welfare issues must be given prominent focus, especially since many B40 category individuals affected by inflation and the Covid19 pandemic have found themselves in the B60 category.
"Following recommendations in a NRC meeting last year, Yayasan Hasanah collaborated with Yayasan Chow Kit to provide emergency food aid to the needy with the help of four non-governmental organisations, including the Malaysian Red Crescent Society and Yayasan Sejahtera.
"So far for the first phase, we have provided 7,600 households with food, and there are another 8,000 households to go at the end of October. That will be over 15,000 households that we have given food to from the allocations received, but it is still not sufficient."
Hartini said she will present further proposals to strengthen social security initiatives and the welfare of the vulnerable at the next NPR meeting expected to be held this month.
In addition, she said the presentation will also focus on proposals to provide more food aid, protection to children and mental health. -- Bernama