“Ramanan has missed the forest for the trees,” the former Klang MP told FMT, arguing that the aid packages announced mask deeper, unresolved structural issues.
Santiago said the real question does not revolve around how much money has been set aside, but why so many Indians are still being deprived of their most basic rights — nearly seven decades after independence.
He said if allocations and loan schemes were truly transformative, Tamil schools would no longer be struggling with chronic underfunding and inadequate facilities.
Neither would Indian youth continue to have limited access to higher education, he added.
Santiago noted that the government has yet to draw up a comprehensive policy on statelessness, leaving many Indian children still without the right to education, jobs and healthcare.
To add salt to injury, the Indian community continues to have difficulty navigating the bureaucratic processes required to claim citizenship, he added.
“These and the declining Indian representation in Cabinet and the civil service are structural issues that no number of handouts or photo-op announcements can resolve,” he said.
Santiago went on to question if there was an independent committee in place to monitor the government’s loan schemes and a long-term economic empowerment plan for Indian workers, who remain clustered in low-wage and precarious sectors.
“These questions remain unanswered because structural reforms are repeatedly sidelined in favour of short-term gestures,” he said.
Santiago called for the government to address the structural neglect that has defined the life of Malaysians of Indian descent for decades.
He suggested that the government appoint an independent third party auditor to evaluate the success of the various loan schemes that Ramanan says have helped the Indian community — “in the interests of transparency and public interests”.
Last Saturday, Ramanan claimed the unity government’s emphasis on inclusivity, with no race or group marginalised, was forcing PAS to reach out to the Indian community.
Santiago took issue with that statement, claiming it was a “misdiagnosis” that ignored growing non-Malay dissatisfaction with the government’s performance.
On Wednesday, Ramanan hit back, asking how he could be accused of neglecting the Indian community, with the government having allocated RM500 million to aid Indian participation in business and cooperative sectors.
The deputy minister also highlighted the RM1 billion in cash aid distributed via the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) programmes, and another sum of almost RM1 billion set aside for Tamil schools.
Ramanan went on to question Santiago’s own record as an MP.
Santiago, a three-term Klang MP, responded by saying his record was not about chasing allocations but about consistent advocacy for institutional reforms, grassroots empowerment, and genuine equity.
“I will not waste any more time in a tit-for-tat with a deputy minister who mistakes government spending for personal achievement,” he said.