SELANGOR Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has agreed to form the Selangor Indian Coordination Council to help Indian-based businesses and address the community’s socio-economic problems.
“Under Amirudin’s chairmanship, Amirudin had also committed to support B40 Indian students living at Ladang Midlands hostel,” said Klang MP Charles Santiago.
The Selangor state government made the commitment after attending the “Shaping a Malaysian Indian Development Narrative” workshop, held over the weekend.
Touching on the matter, Santiago said that in 2017, the Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB) revealed that community was lagging behind in various aspects of the country’s socio-economic development
Post COVID-19, December 2021 floods and the current rising cost of living has made things worse for the Indian community, particularly those from the B40.
“We are very pleased that Amirudin is on board because shaping the new Indian narrative should be premised on a public-public partnership, where people and Government work together in enabling the community,” the DAP leader mentioned.
Apart from the formation of the council, Santiago said the Selangor state government had also promised to conduct capacity-building programmes for B40 children, which will start in the next few months.
“By January 2023, the hostel will begin to operate and accommodate up to one hundred students.
“The state government will also consider increasing TVET education for B40 Indian children to decrease school dropout and provide an alternative skills carrier path with higher income potential,” he added.
In addition, Santiago had also suggested for both Putrajaya and the Selangor state government to commit to alleviate poverty amongst the Indians, by targeting 10,000 Indians within Selangor and 50,000 throughout the country.
“It’s about time we take the Indian community in Malaysia seriously through the inclusion of their concerns in development and poverty-reduction processes,” he remarked. – July 5, 2022
