MIC boss on the right track

Some have made baseless and malicious allegations against G Palanivel with regard to the aid for Tamil schools. But the facts and figures speak for themselves.

COMMENT

By P Gunaseelan

Lately, SS2 Tengah MIC branch chairman S Padnmanagan and few others have accused that MIC president G Palanivel has altered a Cabinet list on providing funds to partially-aided Tamil schools.

Tamil schools is a sensitive subject to the Indian community and some have taken this route to criticise and discredit the MIC president without knowing the real truth.

However, the leadership and majority of the members know who is behind this organised act, their vision and ultimate goal. However, all these baseless accusations and criticisms will fizzle out soon.

Ii is a known fact that Palanivel gives utmost prominence to Tamil schools and temples and it is during his era that a lot of allocations are sanctioned to Tamil schools and temples. Palanivel has been doing his best to develop as well as to give a facelift to Tamil schools in the country.

In fact, the future of Tamil schools and temples in the country runs in his blood and the facts and figures appended below is a clear testimony to the above statement.

There are 523 Tamil schools in the country of which 369 are partially-aided. The RM100 million allocation announced by the prime minister is meant for helping partially-aided Tamil schools for the year 2012.

Since the allocation of RM100 million is insufficient to upgrade all partially-aided Tamil schools, the Ministry of Education has consulted the relevant concerned agencies and implemented a criteria to handle this situation.

The first category which falls under this are schools in critical and unsafe condition for the children. The ministry has identified 184 schools under this category and allocated RM15.8 million to upgrade these schools.

The second category consist of schools which do not have additional blocks to accommodate the number of existing students. The ministry has identified 21 schools under this category and allocated RM39 million for these schools.

The third category is for relocating existing Tamil schools to new sites. The ministry has identified 19 schools under this category and allocated RM44.3 million for this purpose.

Palanivel is aware that the RM100 million is insufficient for the partially-aided Tamil schools and so he has requested for an allocation of another RM100 million and the prime minister has already sanctioned his request in the 2013 Budget.

In addition to this, during the recent MIC annual general assembly, Palanivel also requested the prime minister to sanction RM350 million every year for the duration of three years to give a facelift to all partially-aided Tamil schools.

This request almost amounts to RM1 billion and this shows that the MIC president has the vision and has been consistently harassing the government to achieve this cause.

He is quiet but not weak

Padnmanagan has also accused that the party leadership took the funds from the government in September while aid for other vernacular schools were released early this year. This accusation is also not true as the funds are handled by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education and this has nothing to do with the MIC leadership.

Padnmanagan has also accused that Palanivel single-handedly deprived allocation for many schools and even if the MIC central working committee (CWC) approves something, the party president has the authority to overrule the decision.

This claim is malicious and tantamount to undermining the image of the president as well as the credibility of the CWC members. The current CWC members are informative, vocal, open and far sighted. They discuss all issues without fear or favour.

Palanivel always takes collective decisions and it is during his era, freedom of speech has been given a new lease of life in MIC. We have seen this practiced and implemented during all state MIC conventions where he allows delegates to speak on any subject freely and doesn’t interfere or stop them.

The same procedure is also implemented during CWC meetings. Every member is given a chance to express their views and comments. All decisions are taken collectively and the MIC president does not misuse his powers. CWC members can testify to this.

On the challenge by Padnmanagan to list out the names of hardcore poor Indians who received aid under the party’s Reach and Teach Programme, Palanivel is “Mr Clean” and has nothing to hide.

This programme was extended to 25 schools nationwide and a total of 438 students have benefitted. This is a pilot project of MIC and the results of the 25 schools have been encouraging. The entire nation is a witness that the MIC president during the AGM requested the prime minister for an additional annual grant of RM10 million to extend this programme to all Tamil schools in this country.

Palanivel is quiet but this does not mean he is weak. He believes in delivering results for the community. He has been initiating and undertaking various projects for the benefit of the community and changes are taking place consistently.

It is better for us to sit down with the president and discuss any issues and resolve them in the spirit of brotherhood and for the future of Tamil schools. There is a solution for all issues and let us keep aside our differences and discuss.

The writer is the President of Malaysian Public Service Association and the Welfare Chief of Wilayah MIC.