Everyone is in much need of additional income especially for those in the lower income category what not with the cost of living escalating in urban centres, harnessing the digital evolution Multimedia Development Corporation has introduced the National ‘eRezeki’ Programme. The program offers an opportunity for Malaysians with a household income of below RM4,000 monthly, also referred to as the Bottom-40 (B40) income group to earn extra income who are mostly blue-collared workers, the unemployed and under-employed, students, housewives, retirees and senior citizens.
Launched by the Prime Minister the eRezeki programme includes two major components:
- a) the ‘eRezeki’ online platform where individuals can register as digital workers and perform simple digital-based tasks to generate additional income, and
- b) the eRezeki centres or Pusat eRezeki along with Wakil eRezeki that provides facilities such as computers and connectivity for the participants. The centres are managed and guided by qualified trainers known as ‘Siberguru’ whose responsibilities include registration, task-specific training, and on-site facilitation of work delivery by the digital workers. The first four (4) centres are currently located in four states which are Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Terengganu and Pahang.
The eRezeki portal and training services are free. To enrol in the programme, individuals are required to visit the nearest centre to register as participants. Registered individuals will have to participate in training sessions and will be taught basic digital skills by the Siberguru. Once they are skilled and qualified, they will enter the digital work platform, operated by internationally-renowned crowdsourcing players, to perform tasks. They will be paid after the tasks have been completed and accepted.
Sample rates for work
“We are introducing eRezeki as a measure to raise the average income and share of total income of the bottom 40% household income group, referred to as the B40s. eRezeki is our initial approach in fostering community and social-based enterprises and building capacity for the B40 community to participate in productive and innovative economic activities such as this,” said Prime Minister Najib at the launch at PPR Desa Rejang, Setapak, the official Pusat eRezeki for Kuala Lumpur.
Prime Minister Najib also said “programmes like eRezeki will encourage the B40 households to be independent, find new ways to earn income including through non-financial asset ownership. He added the government will continue to provide further impetus for growth, higher national per capita household incomes as well as increased well-being of the Rakyat”.
There will be 11 Pusat eRezeki to be built in multiple stages across the country including Sabah and Sarawak by the end of 2015.
To further support the current centres, MDeC also introduced eRezeki representatives or Wakil-wakil eRezeki that consist of government-linked organisations and public-private partnerships to use their facilities as the designated centre to support and accommodate more digital workers. MDeC has currently identified and will designate Pusat Internet 1Malaysia, community colleges and Urban and Rural Transformations Centres to become Wakil eRezeki. There will be a total of 22 Wakil eRezeki by end of 2015.
A B40 committee was set up under the Digital Malaysia initiative to determine direction, policy and strategy in carrying out the development programmes for the B40 group. The committee is chaired by the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, together with relevant ministries and agencies.
