About 2,000 Indians storm “1Malaysia, People First” programme with complaints

KUALA LUMPUR - Almost 2,000 Indians with problems linked to a number of issues ranging from birth certificates to welfare aid took part in the “1Malaysia, People First” programme in a bid to have them resolved through the participating government departments and agencies.

According to The Star, the one-day programme, jointly organised by the government-backed Special Implementation Task Force (SITF) for Indians and the MIC registered some 1,760 complaints on Saturday.

The programme was part of the government’s move to resolve the problems faced by the Indian community by creating direct access to the government machinery under one roof, including departments and agencies such as National Registration, Social Welfare, Skills Development, Social Security Organisation, and Tekun Nasional.

According to SITF chairman Dr S. Subramaniam, who is the Human Resources Minister, the programme acted as a one-stop centre for the Indian community to deal directly with the departments and agencies concerned.

“It provided them with direct contact with the relevant departments where they were able to communicate and get instant replies to their many questions, although a solution may not be in sight immediately,” the paper quoted Subramaniam, as saying.

“Our priority now is to resolve the problems brought to our attention on a case-by-case basis. We will try to resolve the problems as soon as we can,” he added.

He further stated that SITF would follow-up on the cases with the relevant departments and agencies within a fixed time-frame and added that a third programme would be organised in Sepang, Selangor, next month. The first programme, in Ijok, Selangor, on Aug 15, drew some 1,000 Indians.

The SITF was initiated by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak early this year to implement the decisions of the Cabinet Committee on the Development of the Indian Community. (ANI)