He highlighted how a prime minister’s direct involvement in policy reforms facilitated two far-reaching strategies in the past.
Subramaniam said that when a proposal was made directly to Najib Razak in 2018 to increase the number of Indian students in local universities by allowing them into the matriculation stream, he agreed and was primarily responsible for making modifications to existing policy.
“He was also directly involved in obtaining approval for seven new Tamil schools. With this, the total number of Tamil schools in the country increased from 523 to 530,” he said in a statement.
Subramaniam also questioned the decision to relocate the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) to fall under the purview of the national unity ministry.
“The issues raised in MIB cut across many ministries. The Prime Minister’s Office will be the ideal centre to coordinate the responsibilities of each of these ministries in its implementation,” he said.
He also noted that the government had appointed a team of academics from Universiti Sains Malaysia to review the blueprint and come up with an implementation strategy.
“They have, in their proposal, preserved the four core thrusts of MIB and added a new thrust on women’s welfare. We should welcome this inclusion.
“The most significant recommendation should be to also place the Implementation Strategy Unit under the Prime Minister’s Office, thus under the direct view of the prime minister,” he said.
He said putting the unit under the purview of the national unity ministry or under the minister in charge of the economic planning unit would not help facilitate the total implementation of the recommendations under the blueprint.
Subramaniam also called on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to reactivate the Cabinet committee for Indian affairs and chair it on a regular basis.
“Ismail should intervene when there is a bureaucratic obstacle in implementing the recommendations, and also review policies standing in the way of the Indian community to fully avail itself of all opportunities within the government,” he said.
He stressed that a strong political will was needed to implement the total recommendations of MIB.
MIB was launched by Najib in April 2017 as an official 10-year government blueprint for the development of the Indian community.