SHAH ALAM, Aug 20 — Selangor’s Dignified Living Index must include indicators that measure the actual impact of state government aid programmes, said Putra Business School MBA programme director Prof Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff.
He said the index is a good step forward, as its multidimensional design would reflect the true state of the people’s lives.
“A period of 12 or 24 months is suitable for observing the impact of a policy. However, it is more crucial that the index require a baseline benchmark before assistance is provided, and recipients must be monitored periodically.
“Three key areas that can be measured are disposable income, housing and transport costs, and access to food, healthcare, and education.
“Additionally, the aspects of household stability should be included in the index, as it is often overlooked when measuring the people’s well-being,” he told Media Selangor.
Razman said any aid programme’s true success should not be measured just by the number of recipients, but by recipients’ ability to break free from their dependence on that assistance.
He said Selangor could pioneer this index, which could become a benchmark for other states.
He also highlighted that Selangor is ideally suited for developing an index that accounts for variations in living costs, as it comprises urban, suburban and non-urban areas.
Previously, the state government announced it would develop the Selangor Dignified Living Index, which is a multidimensional benchmark aligned with urban challenges associated with living costs.
Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said the index would be developed under a new statistical unit framework designed to evaluate the effectiveness of household aid programmes.
Amirudin added that assessments would be conducted every 12 and 24 months to monitor aid recipients’ progress to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of assistance distributed.
