Mitao urges Government to implement plan for Indian community's socioeconomic progress

KUALA LUMPUR: An Indian non-governmental organisation (NGO) has urged the government to implement a 15-year upliftment plan to improve the socioeconomic status of the Indian community.

Malaysian Indian Thinkers and Awareness Organisation (Mitao) deputy president R. Masilamani said on Thursday (April 4) that the lack of progress in the Indian community was worrying, and further delay in addressing the issue could have ramifications.

He said the proposal, supported by over 120 other Indian NGOs in the country, is a long-term strategic and sustainable plan to fund initiatives that can take the Indian community to a level at par with other races at a cost of at least RM15bil.

For the plan to succeed, Masilamani suggested forming a special ministry to manage the issues faced by Indians.

"Apart from ministerial support, a ministerial supervisory council must be in place.

"The plan must also be endorsed by Parliament and overseen by the prime minister or his deputy and have direct involvement of the community's grassroots.

"The implementation strategies must be effective for the initiatives to work for the community," Masilamani said at a press conference at the National Land Finance Co-Op Society Limited building at Kampung Attap here.

He said the rate of unemployment, especially in the civil service, and the number of school dropouts among Indians was high.

Masilamany said that six months ago, Mitao submitted a 10-point proposal for the upliftment plan to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim but has yet to receive a reply.

"Even though the government has done many things for the Indian community, it is not enough. Issues affecting Indians have to be looked into more seriously. We are not against the government. In fact, we fully support the Madani concept," he said.

Also present at the press conference was Mitao vice-presidents RK Ramany Krishnan and lawyer Datuk V. Nadarajan.