Malaysian PM orders urgent redressal of Indian concerns

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 30 (ANI): Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has directed the relevant government departments and agencies to address several long-standing social, economic and educational issues affecting the Indian community.

"We raised several issues for approval and many of them received the nod from the Prime Minister," said Malaysian Indian Congress vice-president Dr S. Subramaniam.

He said in a statement that Najib, who chaired the special Cabinet Committee on Indian Affairs on Monday, had directed the relevant departments and agencies to deal with the issues urgently.

Dr Subramaniam, who is also Human Resources Minister, said his ministry, as secretariat for the Cabinet committee, would take follow-up action immediately.

Commenting on the redevelopment of Tamil schools, he said Najib had approved in principle an extra allocation in view of the increased costs incurred.

He said the Prime Minister had directed the relevant ministries to discuss with the Economic Planning Unit ways to meet the extra RM65 million spent above the RM100 million that had been initially allocated for the purpose.

The Star quoted Dr Subramaniam as saying that Najib had also asked the Higher Education Ministry to consider recognising other existing pre-university courses to enable more Indians to enter public universities.

He said that the target of a 7.4 percent intake of Indians into the civil service would be expedited, adding that more employment and promotional opportunities would be created for Indians in government-linked companies (GLCs). (ANI)