PUTRAJAYA, Oct 26 — A monitoring committee will be established to ensure that the RM27.19 million allocation under the Socioeconomic Development Grant Programme for the Malaysian Indian community (PPSMI) 2023 is disbursed transparently, Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) chairman Datuk R. Ramanan said.

The committee will be chaired by Ramanan himself, and among others, random visits will be made to organisations that receive the grants, in addition to also participating in their programmes.

"I will also send Mitra officers to conduct spot checks to observe how a particular programme is being managed,” he told reporters after handing over first phase PPSMI grant approval letters here today.

A total of 183 non-governmental organisations focused on education, welfare, economics and career training received grants totaling RM27.19 million.

In total, the PPSMI grants amount to RM30 million.

As for the second phase, Ramanan said it is currently in the organisational assessment stage, and the allocation will be disbursed to eligible organisations as soon as possible.

"I hope that all grant recipients can play a proactive role in ensuring that the aid reaches the intended individuals and groups,” he said.

One recipient, A. Mahaletchumy, the executive director of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC), said the allocation received will be used to have a Tamil language page in MABIC’s existing English-language monthly science newspaper, The Petri Dish.

Mahaletchumy is of the view that the Indian community, in particular, lags behind in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and biotechnology, and therefore, the Tamil content will help provide them with more exposure to new areas that can be explored.

She also said that the newspaper will be distributed for free to all 525 Tamil schools nationwide, and the funds will also be used for science competitions to be held in the future. — Bernama