There were no special allocations for the Indian community unlike in previous years and the community is surprised by the exclusion.

Whereas special allocations have been given for certain groups in the budget, the exclusion of any funds specifically for the Indian community is a big surprise and will be a major talking point when Indians meet during the Deepavali celebrations.

Just because MITRA has a history of misuse of funds allocated to it to help Indians, the government should not victimize the Indians collectively.

It will be better to sack all those involved and clean up the MITRA set-up with honest and dedicated people. It is a well-known fact that Indian politicians and leaders and even NGOs entrusted with public money are very prone to bickering, misuse, mismanagement and even embezzlement of the allocations.

Due to the negative activities of these betrayers the Indian community is starved of funds for its crucial development efforts.

For Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to say that there will be substitutes and subsidies in the form of the Sara handouts that will be given out in next February or that the STR will be disbursed before Deepavali or that Indians can avail of Tekun Nasional and Amanah Ikthiar Malaysia (AIM) loans or that they will give highway toll discounts before the Deepavali festival, does not offer any consolation to the deprived sections of the Indian community.

These are general aid schemes by the government that help all communities. They do not fulfil the needs of the Indian community.

It must be noted that the country does not have a level playing field whereby all stand an equal chance for socio-economic opportunities and progress.

Some communities, like the Indians are left far behind and need special assistance to overcome their handicap.

Though the Madani government wants to change race-based allocations for the future well-being of the country, the time is not right now for the Indian community, which very much depends on government aid allocations, affirmative action, and handouts.

As such, excluding special allocations will impoverish the community further and could lead to an electoral setback for the Madani government in the next general election. 

The Indian community needs at least half a billion ringgit annually as a special budgetary allocation to help the impoverished sections of the community utilize the various socioeconomic opportunities unfolding in our rapidly developing country.

Indians need to get involved in agriculture, manufacturing, SMEs, the services sector and other areas to progress, and they need money to start these ventures and businesses.

Funds from MITRA were supposed to help Indians in these efforts.

Now that the government knows that MITRA was a case of betrayal of trust, the government should convert MITRA into a government department and second government officers to manage the disbursements to deserving applicants.

Indian political parties, leaders, politicians and NGOs should not be allowed to manage the Fund as they have set a bad record for themselves. 

I do not understand why managing the MITRA allocations and disbursements led to so many problems.

Assuming that RM100 million has been allocated the money should be used on the basis of 80 percent for big loans or grants to start SMEs and 20 percent for small loans to help the poor especially single mothers, youngsters and the unemployed to start small businesses like food stalls, motor workshops, air-con and mobile phone repair outlets and many others.

Applications from around the country should be invited and proper interviews should be conducted with the applicants, and those applying for big loans to start SMEs should furnish supporting documents for the venture.

The names of all the recipients should be published on the MITRA website to ensure transparency and accountability.

Those receiving the loans should submit a report about their business operations within a year. Those who do not comply with this condition should be permanently blacklisted.

I see no logic as to why political parties, ministers, MPs and others have got embroiled in the simple operations of MITRA.

What was lacking was integrity and honesty by those managing the MITRA funds.

Nothing else. MITRA funds should be used solely for economic purposes and not for education, building temples, conferences, community programs and others.

Funds for youth training schemes and workers’ upskilling should be sourced from other relevant ministries.

There are funds available for these purposes from various government departments.

MITRA was and is solely for the economic and financial empowerment of the poorer sections of the Indian community.

The Madani government should not victimize the entire Indian community for the negative actions of a few who have betrayed the trust of both the Indians and the government. 

(V. Thomas has been regularly contributing to Malaysian newspapers for the last 40 years.)