KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 122 Barisan Nasional Parliamentarians were conferred the honorary People’s Volunteers Corps (Rela) ranks by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi here tonight.
They were bestowed the recognition for their voluntary efforts as well as to encourage volunteerism as part of the Corps’ manifesto.
Those who were given the honorary ranks included Senator Datuk Seri S.K. Devamany and MPs Datuk Mary Yap(Tawau), Datuk Jailani Johari(Hulu Terengganu) and Datuk P. Kamalanathan (Hulu Selangor).
In his address Zahid said that BN lawmakers with the honorary ranks are empowered to mobilise Rela members to assist during national disasters, traffic patrols and crime prevention activities.
He further said that there were now 3.24 million Rela members in the country.
Zahid also asked Parliamentarians to support bids to increase the fund allocation for the members’ uniforms.
He said the RM154 million allocated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was still not enough.
“The Sarawak state government has pledged to give RM18mil while the Sabah state government has set aside RM6mil as funds for the Rela uniforms,” he said.