KUCHING: The Ministry of National Unity (KPN) is in the final stages of producing an action plan for the Indian community under its Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra).
“God willing, this plan will be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in January next year,” said its minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique.
She said the plan was based on five main pillars including education, socioeconomic aspects, and others, adding that it would be implemented in an organised and systematic manner.
“We hope that whatever programmes we implement based on the action plan of Mitra will be able to help the B40 Indian community,” she said when launching Food Court Unity Keluarga Malaysia at Fauziah Family Food Court, Metrocity Matang on Friday night (Oct 22).
She said although Mitra did not receive huge allocations, it would strive to enhance the socioeconomic status of the B40 Indian community.
“Programmes (under Mitra) are run based on three clusters, namely human capital, entrepreneurship and wellbeing. This is all done based on the Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB),” she said.
Halimah explained that the action plan for the Indian community was developed as MIB was too wide in its coverage and it also encompassed the roles and responsibilities of ministries other than KPN.
For instance, she said there were various schemes and assistance under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) which were relevant.
“It is a big blueprint and it should be a reference for all ministries when we talk about the Indian community.
“It is not just the responsibility of KPN through Mitra, because our allocation of RM100 million, which we had previously received, is not enough to implement this blueprint,” said Halimah.
