KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — About 7,000 Indians, who were born in Malaya before independence have obtained citizenship thus far, says MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.
He said it was the result of between five and six years of various efforts by the government such as the ‘MyDaftar’ programme and the ‘Red IC’ campaign nationwide.
“On average, probably more than 15,000 Indians have yet to register to obtain the citizenship. So, this process will be continued to solve this issue.
“Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the MIC’s 70th anniversary celebrations gave his assurance to solve the issue.
“We will find ways to solve this immediately,” he said after attending a religious ceremony ‘Kalvi Yathirai’ organised by the Sri Murugan Centre here today.
Najib said the time had come for those yet to obtain citizenship to redeem their right.
Dr Subramaniam hoped the government would refine the citizenship registration process for Indians by reducing the existing bureaucracy to expedite the process.
“Many have repeatedly applied but failed due to the bureaucracy. I admit the main problem is documentation whereby, their birth records have been missing. If the bureaucracy is reduced, we target this issue will be solved by this year,” he said.
In another development, the health minister said the immunisation screening to identify students who dropped out of the immunisation schedule, would be carried out in all primary schools, including ‘Sekolah Agama Rakyat’ (religious school) soon.
“Screening is the best way. Standard Four pupils will be screened before they enter secondary school. Screening will be tightened for Standard One pupils. We will deploy more staff to do the screening.”
He said the information obtained from the screening process would be recorded as a guide for the ministry for further action. — Bernama
