Setback For Indians Without Special Allocations In Budget 2026

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UNLIKE in previous years, there were no special allocations for the Indian community in Budget 2026 and the community is surprised by the exclusion, to say the least.
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 letdown and will be a major talking point when Indians meet during the Deepavali celebrations.
The government should not victimise the Indians collectively just because the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) has a history of misuse of funds allocated to it to help Indians.

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 non-governmental organisations (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.
To say that there will be substitutes and subsidies in the form of the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) hand-outs that will be given out in next February or the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) that will be disbursed before Deepavali does not offer any consolation.
The same goes to the option of applying for Tekun Nasional and Amanah Ikthiar Malaysia (AIM) loans or will given highway toll discounts before the Deepavali festival!
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 wellbeing of the country, the time is not right now for the Indian community, which very much depends on government aid allocations affirmative action and hand-outs.
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 special budgetary allocation to help the impoverished sections of the community utilise the various socio-economic 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 as a government department and appoint government officers to manage the disbursements to deserving cases.
Indians parties, leaders, politicians and NGOs should not be allowed to manage it as they have set a bad record for themselves.
The Madani government should not victimise the entire Indian community for the negative actions of a few who had betrayed the trust of both the Indians and the government. 
V. Thomas is a Focus Malaysia viewer.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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