SUNGAI BULOH: Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan is confident that no one will be sidelined in the upcoming Budget 2026 to be tabled in Parliament by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Friday (Oct 10).
He said his ministry's wishlist had recently been proposed to the Finance Ministry following discussions involving Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick and senior officials.
"We will wait for the Prime Minister's budget announcement, and as we have always emphasised, no community will be left behind.
"We cannot say we want a specific amount for the Indian, Chinese or Malay communities (separately). We at the Madani Government serve all Malaysians, irrespective of culture, race and religion," he told reporters after officiating the flag-off ceremony of the Deepavali Vanakam Madani nationwide food basket distribution here on Sunday (Oct 5).
Recently, Ewon expressed hope that next year's Budget would continue to prioritise the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the cooperative movement, as well as the franchise, informal and micro-enterprise sectors.
Meanwhile, Ramanan, who is also the Sungai Buloh Member of Parliament, said the Deepavali Vanakam Madani Food Basket Programme involves contributions amounting to nearly RM2mil, including logistics support, through collaboration between the Prime Minister, his ministry and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM).
"A total of 16,600 underprivileged and B40 families nationwide will benefit from the initiative to ease their burden during the festival, with an additional 1,000 recipients from the Sungai Buloh parliamentary constituency under my own allocation," he said.
As a symbolic gesture, Ramanan also handed over food baskets to 50 families in Sungai Buloh. Each basket contains, among others, rice, cooking oil, murukku flour, adhirasam (denderam) flour, dhal and sesame oil - items synonymous with the Deepavali celebration, which falls on Oct 20 this year. – Bernama
