'More Malays in poverty, but Indians not sidelined in eradication efforts'

Summary

• PM Anwar Ibrahim reaffirms government’s commitment to eradicate hardcore poverty.

• He admits there must be better coordination in allocations given to the Indian community.

PARLIAMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today reaffirmed the government's commitment to eradicate hardcore poverty, including through allocations for the Indian community, which he said must be better coordinated.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Question Time, Anwar (Harapan-Tambun) also denied a perception of Indians being sidelined from hardcore poverty eradication initiatives that cover all ethnic groups.

“This (perception) is as if the Indian community is being sidelined. That I don’t agree with.

"It is true, as I said in Parliament, that the number of poor among the Malay bumiputera is very high, since Malays form the majority of the country’s population," he said.

Anwar noted that poverty eradication programmes are much larger for the Malay community, as the majority of the poor are Malays.

"But for the Indian community, although their population is smaller and the number of poor is lower compared to the Malays, there are relatively poorer Indians.

“That’s why the focus on programmes to eradicate poverty must be strengthened. Even if some are cynical, we must end hardcore poverty - when people cannot afford milk for their children, or school uniforms,” said Anwar, who is also the finance minister.

He was responding to a supplementary question from V Ganabatirau (Harapan-Klang), who requested clarification on measures to ensure that announced allocations have reached their targeted recipients.

Clear policies

Ganabatirau noted the Indian community also expects clear policies and allocations to assist the community.

At the same time, Anwar said he never promised to eradicate poverty in general, as claimed by the opposition.

“I never said to end poverty, I said to end hardcore poverty. Listen carefully, so that we can achieve. Why be sarcastic about it?

“Poverty is relative. For hardcore poverty, we can provide precise schedules for food, drink, housing, clothing, transportation - there are records for that,” he added.

Anwar assured the Indian community that the government’s policies clearly do not sideline them.

Channelled via various ministries

Earlier, responding to a main question from S Kesavan (Harapan-Sungai Siput), Anwar said the allocations and assistance for the Indian community are channelled comprehensively through various ministries and not solely concentrated under the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra).

He said there are other programmes with substantial allocations under various ministries that benefit the community in areas such as education, housing and business, in addition to the specific annual allocation of RM100 million for Mitra.

For example, the Rahmah cash aid for the Indian community amounted to half a billion ringgit in 2022, while for 2025 it has reached RM1 billion, he said.

Additionally, the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme worth RM1.2 billion has been provided for the community.

“In 2024, out of the RM100 million allocation for Mitra, RM98.9 million was spent, benefiting 122,082 members of the Indian community.

“Other forms of assistance include RM93 million in early education subsidies, RM17.63 million in higher education aid for the Indian B40 community, and RM2.99 million in laptop assistance for SJKT (Tamil vernacular schools), involving 6,000 laptops distributed in stages.

“Therefore, claims that the government appears to neglect (the Indian community) or that allocations for Mitra are not approved promptly are not true,” he said.

Better coordination

Elaborating, Anwar said that for 2025, the government is taking a different approach in channelling assistance to the community, with better coordination involving each ministry and Mitra.

For example, in the case of housing projects for the Indian community under the Housing and Local Government Ministry, he said additional funds from Mitra would be coordinated to cover shortfalls.

“So, if the ministry spends RM20 million, an additional RM5 million (from Mitra funds) will be coordinated. The ICT (information and communication technology) laboratory equipment assistance in 50 SJKT receives RM5 million from the Education Ministry, and partly from Mitra.”

Further, Anwar also said a total of 200 Hindu places of worship or Hindu temples registered as local community centres nationwide have been allocated RM20 million, in addition to a one-off RM10 million allocation from the Implementation Coordination Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, for minor repairs and maintenance of residences of Indian estate workers.

Reporting by Haspaizi Zain, Alyaa Alhadjri, Hariz Mohd

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