PUTRAJAYA: About three million People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) volunteers and officers can look forward to higher allowances, the latest by next year.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said it was doable to raise the allowances and would send a support letter to the Finance Ministry asking for the additional budget of RM10 million for it.
“The last review to raise Rela allowances was done about seven years ago. We propose to raise the allowance for volunteers from RM6 to RM8 an hour while for the officers from RM7.80 to RM9.80,” he told reporters at the 47th Rela anniversary celebration today.
Expressing his hope that Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng would approve the additional allocation, Muhyiddin said it would be good if the request could be approved by this year. Otherwise, the ministry would ask for it next year, he added.
The minister also said he was receptive to suggestions to expand Rela’s roles in the future.
“Rela is more than just the biggest volunteer organisation in Malaysia. It has the potential to have its job scopes reviewed and expanded,” said Muhyiddin, adding that further discussion must be carried out as such expansion exercise would require training, human capital and allocation.
Last year, he said, Rela had conducted 17,397 volunteer security patrols nationwide.