PLKN 3.0: GOVERNMENT SPENDS RM64 PER DAY PER PARTICIPANT

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 (Bernama) -- The government will spend an average of RM64 per day on each participant of the National Service Training Program (PLKN) 3.0, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said the cost included expenses for food and drink, accommodation and other necessities during the training period.

"In addition, the government will also bear the cost of transportation of the participants (to and from the PLKN centre), " he told a press conference at the Parliament Building today.

He said there were no provisions in daily allowance for PLKN participants as was reported by the media.

"So far, the government has not discussed or agreed to a daily allowance (for PLKN participants)," he said.

Mohamed Khaled said the implementation of PLKN 3.0 will begin with a trial training involving 200 participants, consisting of 148 males and 52 females, from Jan 12  to Feb 25 next year.

"For the trial training, it will involve boys and girls, but in the next series, participants will be separated by gender," he said.

To avoid cases of bullying among the participants, he said 32 wardens would be on duty round the clock at the camps which would also be installed with closed circuit television cameras (CCTV).

"Usually this case of bullying happens when there are seniors and juniors, but for this PLKN participant, they all come at the same time. 

"However, preventive measures will be taken," he said.

Earlier, during the question and answer session during the Senate sitting, Mohamed Khaled said the government will implement a comprehensive and continuous monitoring and evaluation of all PLKN 3.0 participants. 

He said this is to ensure the programme achieves its objectives, including instilling patriotism, fostering unity and building excellent leadership and self-discipline among the younger generation.

He was responding to a question from Senator Datin Ros Suryati Alang who wanted to know if the government is confident that the new PLKN model can shape the identity and build excellent human capital for the country.

-- BERNAMA