KUALA LUMPUR — The Selangor government will not neglect the growth of Indian entrepreneurs despite the reduced allocation for the Indian Selangor Empowerment and Entrepreneurs Development programme (i-SEED) in the state’s 2025 budget, said Selangor Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman, Mohd Najwan Halimi.
He told the state legislative assembly yesterday that it was unfair for critics to judge the state government’s youth and entrepreneurship initiatives without considering their outcomes.
“Our support for i-SEED remains steadfast, and we will ensure that Indian entrepreneurs are not neglected despite the lower budget allocation. We are working on various ways to help them succeed and will continue to do so.
“We have also introduced numerous initiatives to eradicate poverty across the state, so we know what we are doing. I personally believe it is unfair for any party to criticise the government’s initiatives without evaluating their results.
“We will ensure that the allocated funds are not wasted and that these initiatives achieve their objectives,” said Najwan.
Najwan was responding to criticism from fellow PKR state assemblyman Dr Gunarajah George (Sentosa) and opposition lawmaker Muhammad Hilman Idham (Gombak Setia) regarding the RM1 million allocation for i-SEED in the state’s 2025 budget tabled by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari on Nov 15
They noted the reduced allocation for next year, as the i-SEED programme had received between RM2 million and RM3 million since its inception in 2021.
Gunarajah and Hilman argued that the state government could have allocated more funds to i-SEED in this year’s budget instead of funding initiatives such as the Selangor Coffee Festival (SELCOF) and the Selangor Pickleball Festival, which they labeled as “wasteful expenditures”.
For the record, the state government has allocated RM1 million each for both the SELCOF and Pickleball Festival initiatives.
SELCOF will host the ASEAN Barista Championships, offering Selangor’s baristas the chance to develop and compete alongside coffee experts from across Southeast Asia.
The Selangor Pickleball Festival, meanwhile, is an initiative to develop 100,000 new pickleball players over the next five years in the state, with plans to introduce the sport at SUKMA 2026.
Launched in April 2021, i-SEED is aimed at improving the economic status of the Indian community in Selangor, by providing them with equipment assistance, based on the types of businesses being run by the applicants.
To qualify, applicants must be born in Selangor or residents for more than 10 years, earn a monthly individual or household income of RM3,000 and below, and must operate their business within the state. – November 22, 2024