PUTRAJAYA: The Finance Ministry has agreed in principle to look into a daily allowance increase for the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela), says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail
The Home Minister told a press conference here on Monday (Sept 14) that this followed a meeting between the ministries last week on the upcoming Budget 2027.
"If we look at the current rate of RM8 per hour and multiply that by (a duty period of) eight hours a day, 24 days a month, the accrued allowance does not meet minimum wage.
"This may be a slight shortfall in terms of the empathy and compassion of the government towards those under the ministry's agencies. This is something I want to address for Rela," he said.
He added that while no set amount has been proposed, the matter is still being studied, including an allowance comparison within the security sector.
"If you look at security companies, for example, they are at a level of around RM12 to RM13 per hour for each assignment, together with PERKESO payments and other benefits.
"But these are business entities providing security services.
"The security industry is worth more than RM12bil a year. We require security companies to submit reports every year, including the value of the contracts they undertake," he said.
He added that currently, there are 150,000 Rela personnel with 35,000 on active duty at any one time for duties such as road management assistance and security details.
On a related matter, Saifuddin Nasution said a proposal for allowances for those in the Briged Rela Siswa Siswi (Relasis) – the uniformed co-curricular programme for universities and colleges – would also be made.
"Although they have never received any allowance all this while, I have discussed this and prioritised it with the Rela director-general," he added.
He said that unlike other cadet programmes at universities, Rela already has the required provisions in place to do so.
"The financial implications are not too significant given our current size. We have around 1,000-plus Relasis members," he said.
He added that it was proper that Relasis members receive an allowance as they are exempted from the National Service Training Programme but still serve in a uniformed body.
