KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has proposed the government to provide uniformity in its definition and measure of poverty in order for the ministry to implement disbursement of aid to the targeted groups better.

Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the definition of poverty differed from ministry to ministry.

"Now the definition of poverty is different according to ministries with the data of the Welfare Department, the Orang Asli Affairs Department, and such."

"We would like to have one single database and definition for the poor," she told reporters yesterday.

Shahrizat said the call also included definition of hardcore-poor families who earned RM440 and below, poor families who earned less than RM750, and low-income families who earned RM2,000 and below.

"As of now based on the e-Kasih data we have 49,413 hardcore-poor families and 2.1 million low-income families," she said before adding that her ministry will focus on the question of eradicating hardcore-poor families by providing aid, housing, and opportunities for work and entrepreneurship.

"We expect to pull hardcore-poor out from their predicament by the end of 2010. We have 18 agencies under the ministry for that," she said.

On the hiiting out of DAP secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, against Utusan Malaysia, Shahrizat said Lim's opinion was shallow.

"I read Utusan for its professionalism, objectivity and their realistic issues," Shahrizat added - BERNAMA