He said civil servants attached to both government initiatives would be absorbed into his ministry.

Speaking to reporters in a press conference at the Parliament building, Syed Saddiq said the decision was made to reduce expenditure and allow more focus on removing political appointees.

“We are looking to restructure some areas and reduce costs as we found that 50% of the budget allocated was used for the rental of campsites and transportation.

“These processes were not done through open tender,” he added. “A lot of these dealings were made way above market prices, hence the need to restructure both entities.”

He said his ministry would not rush into removing any of the staff but would follow due process in identifying and evaluating personnel hired under both PLKN and BTN.

“We need to identify and differentiate between contract staff and those who are permanent.

“As of now, we are unable to reveal the final headcount of staff who will be absorbed into the ministry,” he said.

Syed Saddiq added that 1Malaysia for Youth (1M4U), another initiative by the former administration, would also undergo a major revamp.

“We want to revive the initial function of 1M4U, which was to promote volunteerism among the youth.

“We want to ensure that it will no longer be influenced by political interference,” he said, adding that they would be engaging with stakeholders who were actively involved in volunteer work.