Indian leaders lament Mitra transfer to Unity Ministry

 

Indian politicians and community leaders are taking issue with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's decision to move the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unity (Mitra) back under the National Unity Ministry.

Critics said moving the unit out of the Prime Minister's Department (PMD) was a confusing "demotion" that undermined Mitra.

MIC information chief R Thinalan said keeping Mitra under the PMD would have ensured better service to the Indian community.

"It is important for Mitra to be placed under the prime minister's purview to continue serving the Indian community without bias or political pressure.

"Programmes and aid need to reach Indians in need, and placing (Mitra) under the PMD reduced bureaucracy so that aid could be delivered as soon it was needed," Thinalan told Malaysiakini.

MIC information chief R Thinalan

Originally known as the Socio-economic Development of Indian Community (Sedic), the unit was created in 2014 as a PMD unit during Najib Abdul Razak's time in power.

After Pakatan Harapan formed the government in 2018, Sedic was renamed Mitra and transferred to the National Unity Ministry where it remained until September 2022 before being transferred back to PMD by then-premier Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Anwar Ibrahim administration kept Mitra under the PMD during its first year in power.

However, on Saturday, Anwar revealed that the unit would again be transferred to the National Unity Ministry.

The prime minister argued that the government had cleaned up Mitra with strict good governance practices in place to ensure no abuse of power or misconduct.

He also said that he would still be keeping an eye on Mitra.

Welfare of Indians

Former Secretariat for Empowerment of Indian Entrepreneurs (Seed) CEO AT Kumararajah said transferring Mitra back to the National Unity Ministry, however, raised questions about the government's strategy to address the needs of the Indian community.

"Is it logical to place an affirmative action unit (Mitra) under a ministry whose goal is to go in the other direction (national unity)," he said.

Meanwhile, Perikatan Nasional-linked Malaysian Indian People's Party (MIPP) said transferring out Mitra showed that Anwar no longer wanted to be responsible for managing the welfare of Indians.

MIPP president P Punithan further claimed that it was likely that Mitra would be overseen by the deputy national unity minister and not the cabinet minister.

MIPP president P Punithan

"MIPP believes the message that the prime minister wants to send is clear, that Indian affairs are no longer an agenda for the Madani government.

"I fear if this continues that Indians would become more sidelined from national development," he said.

Anwar had previously come under fire from certain quarters for removing the sole Tamil minister from his cabinet during the reshuffle earlier this month, with no replacement.

However, Anwar had stressed on Saturday that various policies under his administration had benefited Indians, particularly the poor.

For example, he said many of the dilapidated schools that the government was committed to rehabilitating were Tamil schools.

Likewise, he said efforts to wipe out hardcore poverty - which the government claimed to have succeeded in Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan - also benefited many poor Indians. - Mkini