Kuala Lumpur, May 20 (IANS) The Malaysia government’s claim of allocating $800 million (RM2.89 billion) for the Indian community during 2012-2014, was under the scanner of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) leaders due to lack of substantial results.
DAP leader M. Kulasegaran has suggested that the federal treasury’s claim of an allocation of RM 2.89 billion for the Indian community, which forms 7.1 percent of the population of Malaysia, could be an attempt to mislead or confuse them, Free Malaysia Today reported on Wednesday.
Kulasegaran pointed out there were only 1,000 Indian youths who were trained despite a RM50 million allocation in the 2013 budget to train 3,200 youths.
“The BN government should produce a report card on this,” Kulasegaran said, elaborating that the finance ministry should provide a detailed report on the allocation and reveal if the allocation achieved its objectives and benefited the Indian community.
DAP leaders reiterated the current needs of the Indian community in Malaysia, including increased participation in public sector and public universities, increase in number of government scholarships and greater access to entrepreneurship training and micro-credit loans.
According to the Malaysia Budget 2015, several programmes would help the Indian community, including the Indian Entrepreneurs Financing Scheme and Financing for Indian Women Entrepreneurs, in addition to providing technical training and educational assistance for Indian youth.