PUTRAJAYA:A total of 8,583 applications have been made to the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit's (Mitra) tuition assistance subsidy programme for B40 Indian undergraduate students as of Aug 31.
Mitra Special Vehicle Committee chairman Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan said the grant, involving RM20mil, has been distributed to 3,193 students attending public and private universities with subsidies worth RM6.38mil.
"So far, RM4.98mil has been credited into the Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) accounts of 2,492 students.
"There are still 701 students who have yet to receive their one-off grants due to technical issues.
"But they will be receiving the assistance as soon as these (matters) are resolved, such as checking with universities if the students are still registered there," he told a press conference at the Setia Perkasa Complex here on Friday (Sept 1).
Ramanan also urged more undergraduates in need of financial assistance to apply for the one-off grant of RM2,000 to pay off their tuition fees before the Sept 15 deadline.
He said the grant is targeted at students in the second, third or fourth year of undergraduate courses.
On Mitra’s subsidy for private kindergartens, Ramanan said that as of Aug 31, 107 agreements have been signed worth RM7.18mil that will benefit 2,993 children.
"Mitra is in the process of providing payment of RM2.21mil to 38 kindergartens involving 923 children. A total of 145 kindergartens involving 3,916 children will benefit from the initiative," he said.
The kindergarten subsidy was estimated to cost RM10.8mil with each child receiving RM200 to cover fees and breakfast for one year.
On the dialysis assistance subsidy, Ramanan said 19 dialysis centres treating 140 patients have been approved for the grant valued at RM1.08mil.
"Mitra has received applications from 135 dialysis centres and 813 individual applications up to the Aug 30 deadline.
"For the approved grants, checking and evaluation have taken place to avoid repeat payments. The balance will be channelled this month in stages," he said.
The dialysis subsidy is aimed at helping around 900 chronic kidney patients with assistance worth RM200 per session four times a month for one year.
Ramanan also gave his assurance that the grant for Mitra will be fully utilised for the benefit of the Indian community.
"The remaining funds for Mitra were returned (to the Prime Minister’s Department) for 16 years in a row.
"This time, I will ensure that the money is fully utilised," he said.
