OVER 100,000 low-wage casual workers and the self-employed, who could be eligible for Government income supplements, have not registered for it.

In fact, they outnumber those who have by two to one.

The large group still falling through the cracks was revealed in Parliament on Tuesday by Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower) Hawazi Daipi.

Answering a question from Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong about the few such workers coming forward, he said: 'It is true that quite a large number of workers, casual workers or self-employed have not signed up for the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS).'

'Only 54,000 such workers received WIS compared to 160,000 workers who received Workfare bonus the year before.'

The WIS scheme replaces the one-off Workfare Bonus that was given to workers aged 40 and above and who earned $1,500 and below.

However, unlike the bonus, casual workers and the self-employed need to fulfil their Medisave liabilities before being eligible for payments.

Mr Hawazi stressed that the Manpower Ministry(MOM) had tried various efforts to encourage this group to sign up and they do not know why there is such a low take-up rate.

Is this article useful to you?