Sivakumar Refutes Claims Indian Community Didn T Get Allocations

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V Sivakumar said Tamil national-type schools had been allocated almost RM50 million this year, including RM20 million for maintenance. (Bernama pic)KUALA LUMPUR: Human resources minister V Sivakumar has refuted claims that the Indian community has not been given any specific allocations in the 2024 budget compared to previous years.
The sole Indian minister in the Cabinet said the unity government had never neglected the welfare of the Indian community and has continued to introduce special initiatives in the budget.
He said RM100 million had been allocated to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra), in addition to RM30 million through Tekun for the Indian micro-entrepreneur financing scheme.
“The government has also allocated RM50 million as financial aid for the management of registered non-Islamic places of worship for repair and maintenance work,” he said at a Deepavali reception organised by DAP leaders for the Tamil media here today.
On specific allocations to Tamil national-type schools (SJKT), Sivakumar said almost RM50 million had been allocated to these schools this year, including RM20 million for maintenance.
Another 152 SJKTs received RM70,000 each for toilet maintenance to ensure students’ comfort.
Sivakumar said the Indian community had also benefitted from the allocations provided in various sectors, including health and education.
Several Tamil newspapers had previously reported that there were no specific allocations for the Indian community in the 2024 budget, including for SJKT schools.
Also present at the event were deputy communications and digital minister Teo Nie Ching, deputy education minister Lim Hui Ying and DAP vice-chairman M Kula Segaran. - FMT

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