KUALA LUMPUR – The government has approved an increase in funding for the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra), raising its allocation from RM100 million to RM150 million, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced today.
The Prime Minister attributed the rise to Mitra’s strong track record in executing programmes aimed at uplifting the Indian community, Bernama reported.
“This was following the agency’s good performance in implementing Indian community development programmes,” he said.
Anwar explained that the decision followed a review of Mitra initiatives supporting Indian groups in need, particularly in education, vocational training and socio-economic development.
“Mitra has special programmes, because it can combine the views of elite Indian scholars and representatives of Indian associations, but we must improve the programmes so that the funds really reach the groups in need,” he added.
The announcement came during an engagement session with Indian students at Universiti Malaya, which was also attended by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R Ramanan.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed that the Madani Government is committed to ensuring development assistance is fairly distributed to all communities, including Indian groups still facing poverty and marginalisation.
He emphasised the importance of governance in managing Mitra funds to ensure aid reaches its intended recipients.
“Programmes under Mitra not only involved welfare assistance, but also opened up educational and technical training opportunities for youth from the Indian community,” he said.
Highlighting the additional support, Anwar added: “Apart from food baskets and others, we have also added RM50 million in allocation for Mitra as we will try our best to help them continue their education.”
During the event, Anwar also presented further education assistance and Madani devices to selected students. – May 10, 2026