KUALA LUMPUR: The National Service Training Programme (PLKN) may only begin in two years’ time and not next year as there was no allocation for it in Budget 2024, says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
“If we want to use army camps for this, we need to upgrade all 13 camps nationwide. The ministry will study the implementation mechanism together with stakeholders before it is finalised and implemented. So, PLKN may only begin in 2025,” he said in his Budget 2024 winding-up speech at the committee stage yesterday.
Mohamad said the Cabinet had approved for the Defence Ministry to conduct more studies on PLKN, adding that it was currently in the study phase.
“We have studied many options. Proposals by MPs to cooperate with non-governmental organisations will be considered before the paper is presented to the Cabinet for further approval. The probability of it starting in 2024, however, is close to none as there is no budget,” he added.
On Oct 31, Mohamad announced the revival of the programme, PLKN 3.0, targeting youth who have completed their SPM examinations. But the public raised concerns after the ministry said the programme would target those between 16 and 35 years old.
It later clarified that only those born in 2007 will be called for PLKN if it is implemented by 2024. It explained that trainees would be selected based on the year they were born, adding that the maximum age limit to become a trainee is 35.PLKN was introduced in 2004 involving a random selection of youth aged 18 for a compulsory three-month programme.
It was halted in 2015 and reintroduced the following year with participation to have been made optional by 2019. However, it was scrapped in August 2018. In 2021, the previous administration agreed that the Defence Minister would set up a special committee to study the possibility of reviving the programme with a new template.
