Ramanan Vs Prabakaran Mitra In Leadership Crisis

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The Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra) is seeing a leadership crisis as Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister R Ramanan today claimed that he will be returning to lead the agency.
The Sungai Buloh MP, who was previously appointed as the chairperson of a special task force that oversees Mitra in 2023, said he has received an instruction from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to take its helm.
“I am not usurping anyone’s position but rather just fulfilling the responsibility given by the prime minister.
“The committee was established to oversee this fund, and I previously served as its chairperson. However, after being appointed deputy minister, I relinquished that post.
“Now, the prime minister has once again entrusted me with this responsibility, and I am merely carrying it out,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister R RamananRamanan said he is open to stepping aside if others wish to lead Mitra.
“Please, if anyone wants to take over (Mitra), go ahead. It’s illogical to say that I am seizing the role from anyone. It was the prime minister himself who handed this task to me,” he added.
‘Sorry, I don’t know’
Meanwhile, when contacted, the committee’s incumbent chairperson, P Prabakaran, claimed he has no knowledge about the alleged leadership change.
The Batu MP said he has not received any official letter or directive from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) regarding any leadership change in Mitra.
“Mitra is being taken over by Ramanan? Sorry. I don’t know.
“I have neither been informed nor received any letter or directive from PMO regarding this matter,” he said briefly.
Batu MP P PrabakaranThe agency is parked under PMO and managed by the Mitra Special Task Force Committee.
However, Ramanan was recently tasked with overseeing and monitoring projects involving temples and Tamil schools.
It was learned that Anwar, through Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican, had instructed Ramanan to manage Indian community affairs, including drafting new initiatives for the community.
Ramanan, who is a PKR vice-president, had also purportedly chaired a Mitra meeting in the Parliament building without Prabakaran’s presence.
Additionally, Ramanan has also been responding to issues related to Mitra. This has raised questions about why the task was not done by representatives from PMO or the Prime Minister’s Department.
‘We don’t know who makes the calls’
Previously, several sources inside Mitra told Malaysiakini that there was confusion over the unit’s structure and direction.
“Since the Madani government took over Mitra, the unit has lost its direction. We ourselves don’t know who has the authority to make decisions regarding Mitra programmes.
“Previously, Mitra acted as a unit that vetted all applications before approving and functioned as a regulatory body.
“Now, programmes approved by us are being rejected by PMO. We spent almost four months vetting all applications before granting approval. But they were simply rejected.
“More frustratingly, new programmes are being announced without our knowledge,” one source said.
Mitra was previously known as the Socioeconomic Development of the Indian Community (Sedic) before being rebranded in 2018.
It was established to address poverty, education, and economic opportunity issues in the Indian community through various development programmes.
However, Mitra previously faced multiple internal controversies, including issues of fund mismanagement, poor aid delivery, and allegations of political interference in the allocation of funds.
Meanwhile, Ramanan also announced several new initiatives during today’s press conference.
They include a pilot project called Kalvi Madani, which allocates RM8 million for free tuition for students at 200 Tamil vernacular schools, with payment to teachers to be made by the Implementation Coordination Unit.
Under an initiative called Program Peranti Siswa, some RM7.95 million has been allocated to provide new laptops to 3,000 students in higher learning institutions.
“This programme will be implemented by Yayasan Perkasa Siswa in collaboration with Yayasan Didik Negara; it will provide new laptops to 3,000 first-year university students from low-income families.
“Another RM12.8 million will be allocated for maintenance and minor repairs of Tamil schools, and for furniture purchases,” Ramanan said. - Mkini

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