DAP’s Kasthuri Patto, citing the alleged mismanagement of Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) funds, said given the marked lack of transparency in the disbursement of funds in the past, the upcoming budget must address this weakness.
“There is a call for the annual Mitra funds to be increased for the social and economic transformation of Indian Malaysians to RM200 million or more. Therefore, there is a need for absolute transparency and honesty,” the Batu Kawan MP said in a statement today.
In this context, she urged the national unity ministry to make public all the NGOs that were given these funds, and the amount they received to know how the money meant for them was spent.
“There needs to be greater accountability and clarity on how Mitra funds will be spent in future and where it went in the past. The people want to know if they had indeed reached the intended target.”
Instead of receiving RM100 million annually, Mitra only got RM65 million in 2020 and RM49.1 million last year, according to national unity minister Halimah Sadique. She said the unit had to settle debts that it had accrued when it was under the prime minister’s department in the past.
Kasthuri said Malaysians must know the details of the debts that were paid off using Mitra funds as the revelation came as a shock to the Indian community.
“To whom were the amounts paid and for what purpose? Was there any monitoring done on the programmes or courses? How many Indians benefited from these programmes?
“I hope these details and the many shortcomings will be explained in the 2022 budget and answered by the relevant ministers during the debates and winding-up session.”
She said there was an unverified viral message that said over RM23 million was given out to 15 NGOs to run programmes and courses, with one receiving as high as RM9.15 million and others ranging from RM300,000 to RM1.5 million.
“The national unity ministry must address these claims and clarify if there is any truth to this. If it is true, we want to know if Mitra had monitored to see how successful these programmes have been,” she added.
“Mitra’s report card on its expenditure in the past must be the benchmark for future allocations.”
She said although Mitra is the sole government agency to channel funds to groups working to uplift the socio-economic status of Indians, the finance ministry is the custodian of these funds that must be audited and scrutinised by the Auditor-General, with a report tabled in Parliament.