THE Government must protect the future of the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) to prevent any swindling of funds in the future, said a Selangor exco member.
“I had previously requested for (National Unity Minister) Datuk Halimah Sadique to give proper information on the distribution of RM100 mil funds for Indians but the answers given were unsatisfactory,” Kota Kemuning assemblyman Ganabatirau Veraman pointed out.
“As mentioned earlier, we have not fully utilised the entire RM500 mil and even returned more than half of it. Today, misappropriation of MITRA funds has become headlines, and it is a shameful and irresponsible act of so-called leaders of the community.”
In order to prevent any swindling of funds in the future, Ganabatirau went on to propose that the Government place MITRA directly under the purview of the Prime Minister.
No minister or politicians should be made to oversee MITRA while administratively, MITRA could be placed under the purview of the Chief Secretary to the Government (KSN).
“This is so that the director-general (DG) of MITRA will only be answerable to the KSN and doing to will ensure transparency and accountability of the department.
“MITRA should not be placed under any particular minister because it will create unnecessary bureaucracy and [make MITRA seem as if it is a] one-man show. What is happening in MITRA now should be treated as a lesson,” Ganabatirau added.
He also proposed that MITRA be run only by civil servants and not by political appointees as civil servants are bound by the oath that they have taken and are subject to certain general orders and Government circulars and as such, chances of them misappropriating the funds would be minimal.
Meanwhile, Ganabatirau opined that the rank of the MITRA DG should be equivalent to that of other DGs in federal departments.
“I suggest that the DG should be a JUSA B-grade officer which was the previous rank accorded to the MITRA DG before the Perikatan Nasional Government took over the country.”
He also proposed that a Parliament Select Committee (PSC) comprising Indian MPs from both the Government and Opposition be established to oversee all MITRA-related programmes and fund distributions.
“This PSC should not be allowed to dictate who should receive the funds. Rather, their sole responsibility is to monitor the progress and give suggestions for improvement. However, they should also be given the authority to scrutinise the projects and funds.”
According to Ganabatirau, MITRA should further be given the authority to publish details of the projects, its recipients, amounts, outcomes and reports periodically to the public once they have been approved by the PSC and should be audited by the auditor-general’s department on an annual basis.
“I also urge the Government to establish an advisory council comprising academicians, businessmen and sectoral experts that would be responsible for identifying issues related to Indian affairs.
“This is to advise MITRA in effective implementation of policies that benefit the Indian community at large,” Ganabatirau noted. – Nov 1, 2021
Pic credit: Malaysiakini – Lim Huey Teng
