He said an application for this amount was made by the Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community Unit (Sedic) to then prime minister Najib Razak.

He said after receiving the application, Najib agreed with the proposal and called for follow-up action by minuting a letter to former Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah on Aug 9 last year.

“The allocation was scheduled to be handed to 22 Tamil schools after the 14th general election, with the hope that Barisan Nasional would retain Putrajaya.

“There is a possibility that, after the Pakatan Harapan government took over Putrajaya, the Prime Minister’s Department and the new Treasury secretary-general may have overlooked the approval,” Kamalanathan said in a statement today.

He was responding to claims by Education Minister Maszlee Malik that RM39.7 million in funds for Tamil schools had gone missing and asked Najib to explain.

Maszlee had claimed the allocation was promised by the BN government without the approval of the Cabinet.

It was reported that checks by the education and finance ministries found that no such funds were approved, although an announcement was made to the schools before the 14th general election.

The matter was raised by the Malaysian Tamil Schools Governor Board Council after failing to receive the allocation.