PADANG TERAP, Jan 13 — The government is willing to extend the Self Employment Social Security Scheme under the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to farmers.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Mahfuz Omar said this follows the lukewarm response to the scheme which was previously offered to taxi and e-hailing drivers.

He said so far only 10 per cent of about 100,000 taxi and e-hailing drivers were registered and contributing to the scheme.

"The scheme did not get much response from taxi and e-hailing drivers so we looked at other sectors, including farmers because they are also at risk of accidents and need to be protected by Socso,” he told reporters after visiting the Volvariella mushroom farm in Kampung Musa, Pedu here today.

He said the protection under the scheme should be provided to farmers as they also dealt with machines and equipment which exposed them to the risk of accidents. — Bernama