Earlier, it was under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM).

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim gave his assurance that he would continue to monitor the special unit responsible for addressing the socio-economic development issues of the Indian community, Bernama reported.

Speaking during a dialogue with senior editors of print and online media in Putrajaya today, Anwar traced the problems Mitra had faced since 2017.

“A year ago, we (the unity government) fixed these problems.”

He said Mitra’s programmes were now more transparent and the situation had improved. The funds do not go to any political outfit but go directly to the people and students, he added.

Anwar said the Indian community need not worry about Mitra being placed under a different ministry because all the proper regulations had been established and allocations approved.

The unit was still subject to stringent conditions to prevent any abuse of power or misconduct, he said.

In 2021, more than 300 companies and NGOs were reported to have been investigated over alleged irregularities in grant allocations totalling RM203 million issued by Mitra since 2019.

The Socioeconomic Development of the Indian Community Unit (Sedic) was renamed Mitra in 2018 and was initially under the national unity ministry before being placed under the oversight of JPM in September 2022.

The current Mitra special committee chairman is R Ramanan. The Sungai Buloh MP was recently appointed deputy entrepreneur and cooperatives development minister.

He recently said Mitra had fully utilised the RM100 million allocation earmarked for various initiatives in 2023.

They were channelled into initiatives like undergraduate study subsidies, early education programmes and dialysis assistance.