DAP Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming is satisfied with the explanation on the workings of the New Affirmative Action Movement (Naam) Foundation, given by its chairperson M Saravanan today.

"There are a lot of issues to follow up on but today I'm satisfied," Ong said to reporters today after meeting Saravanan, who is also Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, for over an hour.

Ong had accused Saravanan of conflict of interest, following the disbursement of RM19 million from the government to the MIC-linked foundation for a chilli planting programme .

Saravanan responded by telling Ong to come to Yayasan Naam and see its records for himself.

One of the things he would like to follow up on, Ong added, was getting the contact information the 129 participants of the chilli fertigation program who are now running their own farms.

This is so that anyone interested in the issue can check up on the progress of the farmers, he said.

Ong added that he was also "pleasantly surprised" by the thorough records kept by Naam Foundation and he was shown records he did not expect to see.

He will also advise his colleagues to look into the struggle of marginalised Indian youths, especially in terms of getting loans from The National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (Tekun).

During the roughly one and a half hour meeting, Ong asked questions on the staff, structure, standard operating procedures, programmes, funding, audit reports, as well as on the Naam Foundation.

The meeting was attended by Saravanan, several members of the foundation's board of trustees, as well as Batu Gajah MP V Sivakumar.

Saravanan explained and provided reports and details related to the foundation to Ong and Sivakumar, explaining where the RM19 million came from and what it was used for.

Training and assistance

Saravanan also stressed again that the foundation only provides training and assistance to marginalised Indian youths who could apply for Tekun loans after training.

Materials given to the 129 youths start their own farms were an additional effort from the foundation to help and was not an obligation, he explained

The RM19 million was placed in the Youth and Sports Ministry by him was to create an extra layer of checks and balances for the foundation, as the ministry was then responsible for monitoring how the funds were used.

He also reiterated that Naam Foundation was the only Indian NGO to have signed an integrity pact with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, even before they received the RM19 million grant from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in 2014.

On Tuesday, the Youth and Sports Ministry had come under fire over alleged conflict of interest in the disbursement of RM19 million for a chilli planting programme under Naam Foundation.

Ong had said it was a conflict of interest as there are several MIC members in the board of trustees of Naam Foundation.