KUALA LUMPUR: The National Blueprint for the Indian community is set to be a comprehensive plan covering Malaysian Indians from all income backgrounds.
To be launched on Sunday, the blueprint addressed the three different economic groups: the Bottom 40 (B40), the Middle 40 (M40) and the Top 20 (T20).
The detailed masterplan will benefit more than 1 million Malaysian Indians, said MIC Youth chief, Sivaraajh Chandran.
He said the launch of the blueprint is timely, but its success depends on the plan’s implementation and monitoring.
“It will be a holistic blueprint, covering the B40, M40 and T20 groups.
“The MIC also conducted an action plan for the youth, and based on that, we suggested 104 programmes. I was told that some of our key suggestions were included in the National Blueprint.
“After this, we will be ready for the Transformasi Nasional (TN50). This is a very important agenda, because it will decide where we stand as a community thirty years from now,” Sivaraajh said when contacted by the New Straits Times, today.
In 1974, he said the MIC had initiated the first blueprint to uplift the Indian community, but it did not turn out as expected, because there was no affirmative plan to boost the socio-economic progress of the Indians, and there was no specific target.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Ethnic Studies principal research fellow, Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria, said this is the first time the federal government has developed a comprehensive blueprint.
He said this is because in 2008, when the government introduced their first blueprint, they did not include an action plan, and the government did not define the critical areas faced by the Indians which needed to be addressed.
“So, this new blueprint targets different groups of Indians, and their challenges will be addressed in the action plan. It will be more effective.
“It is wrong for people to say this is just a ‘political stunt’. I know some political parties are saying that to create confusion. But, actually this blueprint, which is in line with the 11th Malaysia Plan, is to enhance the earlier initiative,” he said when contacted.
It was reported yesterday that MIC president, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, had said that the blueprint consists of four aspects which will oversee and identify the basic problems faced by Malaysian Indians; improve their livelihood and wealth; recognise the potential of every Indian child; and address social issues.
At the media briefing, Dr Subramaniam, who is also the Health Minister, said that under the Prime Minister’s Department, a special unit known as the ‘Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community’ has been formed which will supervise, monitor and execute the plan.
He said this comprehensive blueprint is the first action plan that will help provide for the basic needs of Malaysian Indians, covering areas such as education, entrepreneurship, housing, employment, documentation, trade and social development.