RM7.2mil Mitra aid for communities with high number of Indians

Mitra’s R Ramanan said needy Indian students can still apply for the unit’s RM2,000 one-off subsidy.

PUTRAJAYA: Half of the 72 parliamentary seats with the highest number of Indian constituents have received funds from the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra), its special task force committee chairman, R Ramanan, said.

He said the 36 seats received a total of RM3.59 million.

“Eleven more parliamentary seats are expected to receive their allocations in the first week of September,” he said, adding that Mitra was still screening the remaining 25 seats.

A total of RM7.2 million had been set aside for these seats.

On the special RM2,000 one-off grant for university students from the Indian community, Ramanan said Mitra had received 8,583 applications as of Aug 31.

He said Bank Simpanan Nasional had distributed the aid to 2,492 students.

“Another 701 students are expected to receive their money next week as soon as technical issues are resolved,” he said.

He urged those in need of funds to apply for the subsidy as there were still about 1,300 subsidies to be given out. The deadline is Sept 15.

Applicants must show proof that they are from the B40 income group and that they are enrolled in a public or private local university. - FMT