Human Resource Minister R. Ramanan assures MITRA’s move to KESUMA strengthens Indian community development without compromising welfare or social mobility
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) may be under the Human Resource Ministry (KESUMA), but that doesn’t alter its original mandate of being an agency specifically responsible for the socio-economic development of the Indian community.
Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan said that, instead, the move has strengthened the MADANI Government’s commitment to ensuring the agenda of welfare, social mobility and human capital development of the Indian community is implemented in a more integrated and high-impact manner.
“In this regard, the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) is of the view that placing MITRA under KESUMA will not affect that principle, but instead strengthen MITRA’s position by comprehensively integrating the agenda of Indian community development into the country’s human resource development,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to a question from Kalam Salan (PN-Sabak Bernam), who asked if the government could assure that placing MITRA under KESUMA wouldn’t jeopardise the interests and welfare of the Indian community, given the ministry’s existing heavy workload.
Ramanan said the move was done to ensure the planning, implementation and monitoring of MITRA programmes could be done in an organised, systematic and effective manner, in line with the policies of workforce development, employability, skills improvement and social protection under KESUMA.