Newly minted Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra) special committee chairperson R Ramanan has vowed that those who committed wrongdoings would not be spared.
He said an audit would be done to investigate allegations of embezzlement and abuse of power in the unit, which was established in 2013 with the aim of uplifting poor Malaysian Indians.
"Mitra can only make decisions on its way forward after this audit is done.
"I can promise that even God cannot save those found to have committed wrongdoings,” Ramanan told a press conference after chairing the committee’s first meeting in Putrajaya today.
Also present were committee members Senator Sivarraajh Chandran (MIC), Klang MP V Ganabatirau (DAP) and Segambut MP R Yuneswaran (PKR) as well as Mitra director-general K Raveendran Nair.
Ramanan, who is also the Sungai Buloh MP, stressed that Mitra’s focus would be to help those in need.
"It is better for us to focus on helping those who need our assistance. We must think of the rakyat who are poor and struggling," he added.
According to Ramanan, Mitra has extended the deadline for its RM30 million grant application to May 28, 2023.
Under spotlight
Launched by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, Mitra was originally known as the Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community Unit (Sedic).
Sedic was disbanded when the BN government fell after the 14th general election and was later revived as Mitra under the Pakatan Harapan administration.
After the Harapan government collapsed in 2022, Mitra was placed under the purview of the National Unity Ministry.
The unit landed in the spotlight in 2021 following the arrest of several company directors, who were suspected of embezzling funds allocated by Mitra.
Under the present government, Mitra has been moved under the Prime Minister’s Department.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, allocated funds worth RM100 million for Mitra during the tabling of Budget 2023 earlier this year.
Earlier today, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy asked the government to provide substantial funding for the Indians through Mitra and others.
“More than this, I would like to appeal to the unity government to allocate additional funds for the benefit of the Indian community through other agencies,” he added.
The DAP leader argued that good intentions alone are insufficient to address the socio-economic woes of the Indians.
“It is too well known that funds allocated for the benefit of the Indians never reached the target group.
“Instead, certain unscrupulous leaders hijacked the funds for the benefit of their cronies and families. Some organisations that had no interest whatsoever in the well-being of the community also did the same,” he added. - Mkini
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