GOVERNMENT aid programmes for the Indian community face questions of accountability and whether the funds are reaching the target groups, Urimai president P. Ramasamy said.

On top of that, the amounts available to Indians were “ridiculously small”, he said.

“Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should understand that 70% of the Indian community are members of the working class.

“It is inaccurate on the part of Anwar to say that the Indians should not be angry or jealous of the assistance to the Bumiputera community.

“If the government assistance ends up in the coffers of the rich and connected, then not just Indians but other Malaysians might get angry,” the former DAP leader said in a statement today.

He was responding to Anwar’s denial yesterday that his government had ignored the plight of the Indian community.

Ramasamy said the government had allocated RM100 million to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit, RM30 million to the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund and RM50 to the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia loan scheme to empower Indian entrepreneurs, especially women.

This added up to only about RM200 million in the form of loans and grants, he said.

Anwar had said that people who criticised the government over its Indian policies were doing so to confuse and create mistrust.

“He (Ramasamy) is trying to instigate and influence the Indian people to misunderstand… The one who is instigating has vested interests and is actually rich, and sometimes he is stubborn because his party didn’t give him a position. That is not my problem. This is a problem that must be faced within the party, some of them are my friends too, what can I do?” said Anwar.

He said the government had never sidelined the Indian community and that various initiatives had been launched to empower them.

Ramasamy quit DAP just before the state elections in November to start Indian party Urimai.

Urimai is campaigning against Pakatan Harapan in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, calling on Indian voters not to vote for its candidate as the unity government has failed to safeguard the community’s interests and rights.

“We want to expose the government as uninterested in the wellbeing and welfare of the Indian community,” said Ramasamy.

“There is no politics of retaliation on the part of Urimai. Urimai just wants to educate Indians and others on how the PH-led government has betrayed the community.” – May 2, 2024.