Najib: Indians can see the results

PUTRAJAYA- DATUK Seri Najib Razak has called on the Indian community to compare the programmes implemented under his administration over the last four years with the promises made by the Pakatan Rakyat-controlled states.

The prime minister said the people should be able to evaluate for themselves and he hoped that the Indian community would continue to support Barisan Nasional for it to continue with the programmes and efforts drawn up for their welfare and prosperity.

"We have done a lot of things and the results can be seen and evaluated, but I hope that, in future, we will be able to increase assistance for the Indian community."

He said this in a special interview in the Tamil edition of the Helo Malaysia programme produced by BernamaTV and broadcast over Astro Channel 502 last night. The interview was conducted by journalists Michael Savarimuthu and K. Ghandi.

Najib said that even when he was the deputy prime minister, he had noted that the problems faced by the Indian community needed extra attention.

At that time, he had suggested to then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to set up a cabinet committee on Indian community affairs, which Najib chaired.

"Since then, various programmes and efforts had been carried out, including solving the problem of about 7,000 individuals without citizenship and birth certificates."

The Special Implementation Task Force, chaired by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, had since 2011 solved the documentation problems of the Indian community through the MyDaftar programme.

Until now, some 7,600 applications for MyKad have been received, and Najib believed that steps were being taken to process these applications.

"We have also identified educational problems, as many national-type Tamil schools (SJKT) are in a deplorable state and need assistance because developing and uplifting the Indian community has to be through improvements in education," Najib said.

The government had allocated more than RM500 million to develop Tamil schools from 2009 to 2013, through the Government's Special Plan packages.

Since 2009, the Federal Government had spent RM340 million on developing infrastructure for more than 250 Tamil schools throughout the country.

Najib had also initiated the Tamil Schools Future Action Plan and the government had approved the licence for seven new Tamil schools.

The committee had also managed to solve other problems, such as a lack of crematoriums, participation of non-governmental organisations representing the Indian community and initiatives to increase matriculation places for Indian students.

To increase Indian youth's enrolment in the public institutions of higher learning, Najib launched the 1Malaysia Indian children programme in February.

It is a pre-diploma programme which provides a special passage for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia holders from the Indian community, particularly those who did not meet the entry requirements and those from the lower-income families.

-Bernama