SHAH ALAM: The down-trodden and marginalised Indian community is hoping that Datuk Seri Najib Razak can be their saviour.
All they want is an Indian economic fund fashioned after the Bumiputera economic empowerment agenda he announced recently.
Leading the call for hand-outs to Indians is the MIC. Vice-president Datuk M Saravanan and party treasurer Datuk Jaspal Singh feel that this is the only way Indians can break free from their chains of poverty.
But another view is to take stock of what have been given to the Indians so far.
Saravanan reportedly said that the marginalised Indians need to be uplifted by the government with such specifically targeted economic model while Jaspal said Indians were twice worse off than Bumiputeras.
Jaspal had called on Najib to introduce among others an Indian Economic Empowerment Council, increase Indian equity ownership in the corporate sector and structured programmes to support Indian entrepreneurship.
But do the Indians need a specifically targeted economic model?
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Institute of Ethnic Studies principal research fellow Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria thinks otherwise.
He said although he does not have anything against MIC’s recommendations, he said it would be best to re-evaluate the implementations of all the special units and programmes for the Indians, introduced by Najib since 2008.
‘’Najib had allocated so much for the Indians, Hindraf, special unit under the Prime Minister’s Department, special task forces, skills training, micro loans and Tamil schools,’’ he said.
He said instead of asking for more, what is more important now is to do impact assessment and see that its targets are met.
He said if the demand for an economic model for the Indians is met, then there is no stopping other communities to demand the same.
He said Najib should have instead introduced an inclusive economic plan, in line with the 10th Malaysia Plan and New Economic Model, in which there could be specific targets for different groups.
‘’The Bumiputera agenda is not too bad but the way it was presented was as though it will supersede an inclusive agenda for all communities.
There is confusion in the way it was presented. Other communities are wondering what has happened and what is now for them,’’ he said.
However, he said all is not lost as Najib can still set things right in the 10th Malaysia Plan and 2014 Budget and show that he has not abandoned other communities.
Various quarters have criticised Najib for the special economic model for Bumiputeras, which among others was said to be done with an eye on the Umno election next month.
The opposition has also described it as a failure of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept while law experts have called it unconstitutional.
Under the model, over RM31 billion in various loans, contracts and programmes were set aside to uplift the Malay community, strengthen their economic participation and ownership of commercial property.
Among others, the government will launch the Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 with 10 billion units to enhance Bumiputera equity ownership in the corporate sector, while Ekuiti Nasional Bhd will help Bumiputera-owned companies to be listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Another initiative under the economic model is more affordable houses for Bumiputeras nationwide by Syarikat Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) and Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd in cooperation with state governments.
Source : http://www.theantdaily.com/news/2013/09/25/saviour-najib-and-indian-economic-fund
All they want is an Indian economic fund fashioned after the Bumiputera economic empowerment agenda he announced recently.
Leading the call for hand-outs to Indians is the MIC. Vice-president Datuk M Saravanan and party treasurer Datuk Jaspal Singh feel that this is the only way Indians can break free from their chains of poverty.
But another view is to take stock of what have been given to the Indians so far.
Saravanan reportedly said that the marginalised Indians need to be uplifted by the government with such specifically targeted economic model while Jaspal said Indians were twice worse off than Bumiputeras.
Jaspal had called on Najib to introduce among others an Indian Economic Empowerment Council, increase Indian equity ownership in the corporate sector and structured programmes to support Indian entrepreneurship.
But do the Indians need a specifically targeted economic model?
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Institute of Ethnic Studies principal research fellow Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria thinks otherwise.
He said although he does not have anything against MIC’s recommendations, he said it would be best to re-evaluate the implementations of all the special units and programmes for the Indians, introduced by Najib since 2008.
‘’Najib had allocated so much for the Indians, Hindraf, special unit under the Prime Minister’s Department, special task forces, skills training, micro loans and Tamil schools,’’ he said.
He said instead of asking for more, what is more important now is to do impact assessment and see that its targets are met.
He said if the demand for an economic model for the Indians is met, then there is no stopping other communities to demand the same.
He said Najib should have instead introduced an inclusive economic plan, in line with the 10th Malaysia Plan and New Economic Model, in which there could be specific targets for different groups.
‘’The Bumiputera agenda is not too bad but the way it was presented was as though it will supersede an inclusive agenda for all communities.
There is confusion in the way it was presented. Other communities are wondering what has happened and what is now for them,’’ he said.
However, he said all is not lost as Najib can still set things right in the 10th Malaysia Plan and 2014 Budget and show that he has not abandoned other communities.
Various quarters have criticised Najib for the special economic model for Bumiputeras, which among others was said to be done with an eye on the Umno election next month.
The opposition has also described it as a failure of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept while law experts have called it unconstitutional.
Under the model, over RM31 billion in various loans, contracts and programmes were set aside to uplift the Malay community, strengthen their economic participation and ownership of commercial property.
Among others, the government will launch the Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 with 10 billion units to enhance Bumiputera equity ownership in the corporate sector, while Ekuiti Nasional Bhd will help Bumiputera-owned companies to be listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Another initiative under the economic model is more affordable houses for Bumiputeras nationwide by Syarikat Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) and Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd in cooperation with state governments.
Source : http://www.theantdaily.com/news/2013/09/25/saviour-najib-and-indian-economic-fund
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