Mitra's special panel wants an audit conducted on the unit

 

The Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra) special committee has written a letter to the National Audit Department asking it to conduct an audit on the alleged irregularities and abuse of power related to the institution.

The committee's chairperson, R Ramanan, confirmed that a letter had been sent to the office of the National Audit Department chief.

"I wrote a letter to the head of the national audit and it was sent on April 20.

"I have asked the National Audit Department to conduct an audit from 2016 to 2022," Ramanan told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

Earlier, Ramanan promised to audit Mitra as a whole as part of an attempt to clean up the image of the institution.

"I can promise that even God cannot save those found to have committed wrongdoings,” Ramanan told a press conference last week.

Mitra, which was launched in 2013 by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, was initially known as the Indian Community Socioeconomic Development Unit (Sedic), with the aim of increasing the income of low-income groups in the Indian community.

Sedic was disbanded when the BN government fell in the 14th general election and, during the era of the Pakatan Harapan administration, it was revived as Mitra. After the Harapan government fell, Mitra was placed under the Ministry of Unity.

In early 2021, the issue of Mitra's funds came into focus following allegations of misuse of allocations involving hundreds of millions of ringgit. After the formation of the unity government, Mitra was placed back under the Prime Minister's Department.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has allocated funds of RM100 million to Mitra through Budget 2023. - Mkini