Sikh Temples (Gurdawara) will be allowed to send their religious teachers to National Service training camps which has Sikh trainees said NS Department director-general Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil.

Abdul Hadi said the decision was made after a meeting with the Malaysian Gurdwara Council at his office yesterday.

However, details of the implementation and mechanism would be ironed out before its implementation on May 1.

Abdul Hadi said the NS Department would however, not bear the cost for such initiatives if there were less than 15 Sikh trainees at any one camp.

"Under such circumstances, if parents want to bear the cost of sending a religious teacher, we will not object but instead welcome such an effort," he said.

The decision came after a Sikh trainee claimed that his hair was cut without his knowledge while he was sleeping in an NS camp last month.

Abdul Hadi also urged the Sikh community to organise programmes that can attract Sikh youths to participate in NS training.

- Bernama