KUALA LUMPUR — Some 52 per cent of participants in entrepreneurship programmes under the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra) reported an increase in income, while 77 per cent of participants in the Economic Cluster programme said their employment prospects had improved after taking part in the initiatives.

The Human Resources Ministry (Kesuma) said the findings were based on an Impact Study on the Implementation of the Indian Community Socioeconomic Development Programme (PPSMI) for the 2021-2023 period, conducted by Universiti Malaya (UM), involving 2,100 respondents across 135 programmes.

“The impact study confirmed that Mitra funding had a significant positive impact across all four dimensions of socioeconomic development, namely income, employment, entrepreneurship and education,” it said in a written reply posted on the Parliament website.

The ministry was responding to a question from S. Kesavan (PH-Sungai Siput) on the effectiveness of Mitra funding in improving the socioeconomic status of the Indian community, based on actual data such as increased income among beneficiaries, job opportunities created, the number of entrepreneurs whose businesses had expanded and the number of students who had successfully pursued higher education.

Apart from the increase in income, Kesuma said 46 per cent of respondents also reported an improvement in their overall household financial stability.