Aid for Indian community goes beyond Mitra allocations, says Anwar

 The prime minister says the government’s support includes cash contributions, business financing, school upgrades, and funding for places of worship.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said government assistance allocations have increased several-fold compared with those under previous administrations. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR:

Government aid for the Indian community extends beyond allocations to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra), with beneficiaries also eligible for mainstream assistance schemes, says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said the government’s support included cash aid, business financing, school upgrades, and funding for places of worship.

“Some people say the only assistance for the Indian community is through Mitra. That is not true. There is Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR), Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), and Tekun,” he said during a visit to the Brickfields Deepavali mega bazaar here today.

“In the past, Tekun and AIM were only for Bumiputera small traders, but we have now extended them (to other communities), and also increased Mitra’s allocation by RM150 million specifically for Indian entrepreneurs.”

He said RM50 million had also been allocated for the maintenance of Tamil schools and the construction of new ones, including SJKT Ladang Pamol in Kluang, as well as six other schools nearing completion.

Anwar said government assistance allocations had increased several-fold compared with those under previous administrations.

He said allocations for STR and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) had risen to RM16 billion in 2024, compared with RM6 billion for Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) in 2018 and RM8 billion for Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) in 2022.

“Some people say there was assistance in the past, too. That is true, but how much was allocated then? RM6 billion. Now it is RM16 billion for the people, particularly those from the lower-income group,” he said.

He also said the disbursement of RM1.1 billion in STR payments in conjunction with Deepavali, which begins today, would benefit five million recipients across various communities, including 630,000 from the Indian community.

Anwar said the government had also approved an additional RM80 million for the repair and maintenance of places of worship, including temples nationwide.

Author Janakey Raman Manickam, in his book “Malaysian Indians: Impact and Pain: Narration of an Unending Saga of a Marginalised Community”, claimed that the Indian community remained marginalised and estate workers continued to be left out of government programmes, despite millions of ringgit being allocated to Mitra.

He also questioned the effectiveness of the disbursement, saying many students were still struggling to pay their tertiary tuition fees while entrepreneurs were unable to secure business loans. - FMT