Funding doesn’t reach the community, says Malaysia Hindu Sangam

IMG_20140522_175155PETALING JAYA, Oct 11, 2014:

Malaysia Hindu Sangam is disappointed that the 2015 Budget does not take into consideration the plight of Hindu Non-Governmental Organisations.

Its president Datuk R.S. Mohan Shan said various community NGOs like the Hindu Sangam which looked after the welfare of the Hindu community found it difficult to implement programmes and activities for the betterment of the community.

While he did not deny that there were allocations for Indian women entrepreneurs and education assistance to Indian youth, Mohan said the money did not really reach the community.

During the tabling of 2015 Budget yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a RM30 million allocation for Indian women entrepreneurs while another RM30 million was set aside to provide technical training and education assistance to Indian youth, particularly those from low-income families.

“If the money is distributed by political parties then it will go to their cronies not to the community,” said Mohan.

He urged the government to look into a proper fund distribution mechanism so that the society was not neglected.

He expressed disappointment as the government had been ignoring the community’s call to upgrade the standard of Hindu temples in the country.

Mohan said MHS had applied for government funding for the maintenance of Hindu temples, but it had not got any feedback on the matter.

“All we ask is for some allocation to be set aside for priests, religious teachers and caretakers. We only have close to 2,500 temples nationwide, but have not been given any attention.”

“Quite a number of temples have raised this issue with us and we are trying to do our best to help them,” said Mohan adding that the government should really look into the welfare of all communities if it was serious about establishing the 1Malaysia concept.

Source: The Rakyat Post