Lots of noise on Mitra funding

By Asia Samachar | Editorial |

There has been a lot of noise lately about alleged abuses of state funds meant for the development of the Indians in Malaysia. Certain politically-connected individuals have either pocketed funds received or used the money for their own fancy purposes, or so goes the allegations.

There is nothing really new in these allegations, other than names and outfits, perhaps. For those who have taken the trouble to track them, they would have heard them all.

You would have heard the word ‘Mitra’ being bandied around. It has nothing to do with mittar, Punjabi for friends. MITRA here is the acronym for Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit, a federal government unit now parked under the Ministry of National Unity. In its previous incarnation, it was known as Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community Unit (SEDIC). When Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the federal government after the 2018 polls, they rebranded the outfit.

In a nutshell, the allegations are that some sleazy people have used their political positions or connections to channel federal funds to their favoured non-governmental organisations (NGOs). These are money earmarked to help the community. The general suspicion is that scandal and swindle reigned when it came to how the money was eventually spent.

Between 2014 and 2018, SEDIC received RM203.9 million, according to the Auditor General’s report for 2018 (See: Laporan Ketua Audit Negara Persekutuan Tahun 2018- Siri 1, page 61 onwards). In 2019 onwards, MITRA was supposed to have received RM100 million annually. Roughly, that works out to about half a billion ringgit over eight years.

In the past, some Sikh organisations have also received these funding. While we don’t have the exact figure, it does not add up to much for the Sikh recipients. Generally, we believe most of them would have spent the money on projects and activities as outlined in their proposals when seeking the funding. But not all, it may seem.

Here, we would like to urge organisations that did ask for, and received government funding, to openly declare how much they received and how they spent it. This is what accountability is all about. You make it known for all and sundry to see. You have asked for public money, and you have got it. Now, you do the right thing by making public how it was spent, and the outcome. Don’t make people jump over hoops simply to obtain these details.

If any organisation is reluctant to do so, we must ask why. They should come under scrutiny. We don’t need bad apples in our midst.

ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here |