Fake volunteers: MP calls for independent probe on Rela budget, membership

A lawmaker has called for an independent probe into “phantom volunteers” in the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) following allegations that people were registered as members of the unit without their consent.

Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim Chee Keong said there were many concerns, ranging from misuse of personal data, budgetary issues and even strategic deployment problems due to a misleading headcount of members.

“We should be allowed to ask in Parliament for more details.

“An independent body should be investigating this and tabling a report to Parliament,” Sim told Malaysiakini yesterday.

He stressed that the Home Ministry, which oversees Rela, should be responsible for the matter.

The DAP lawmaker, along with his wife, were some of many individuals who found themselves on the registry of Rela members despite never having signed up to join the corps.

According to a Budget 2012 document, Rela had 2.59 million members in 2010, which increased to three million in 2011.

Rela denied signing up volunteers without their consent and said it has begun an internal probe into the matter - while also purging the names of those inadvertently added to its system.

Besides data privacy concerns, the presence of involuntary members on the Rela registry has also raised questions about whether government allocations for the uniformed body had been based on inflated numbers.

Following the increase of 400,000 members in 2011, the Rela budget was increased from RM65.8 million that year to RM78 million in 2012.

For 2021, the government allocated RM153 million to the volunteer corps, including costs for the upgrading of training facilities.

Part of the allocations to Rela is also to pay volunteers' allowances for training and for being on duty at a rate of RM6 per hour. There are also free uniforms and medical and insurance coverage.

A representative from Rela told Malaysiakini that registered volunteers who don’t turn up for training won’t receive any allowances.

Sim - who has not turned up for a Rela duty - said he did not receive any allowances.

Likewise, Twitter user @imbashrahman told Malaysiakini that he and his sister, who were also involuntarily registered for Rela, have not received any allowances.

He also revealed that another sister had voluntarily registered for Rela as part of her work with Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) but has not served.

“My sister was never on duty, she got the uniform because she’s with Institut Kemahiran Mara (IKM) and the team from Rela came to train the students.

“She received the Rela uniform because she’s one of the teaching staff there,” the Twitter user said when contacted.

Curiously, the sister who did register for Rela found she was no longer with the uniformed body when she checked its membership list.

- Mkini

✍ Credit given to the original owner of this post : ☕ Malaysians Must Know the TRUTH

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