India Lends a Hand to solve Ethnic Indians problems In Malaysia

YB S. Manikavasagam was invited for a Dinner by India’s Minister of Overseas Affairs Shri Vayalar Ravi last night. Mr. Ravi whom aware of problems faced by Malaysian Indians bought together political envy’s to a dinner table last night.

Also seem at the Dinner was YB Sivarasa , YB Kulasegaran , YB Gopalakrishnan and MIC’s S Samyvelu, S.Veerasingam , Dato Seri Nazri Aziz , Justice Gopal Sri Ram,Tan Sri Dato Ajit Singh and few others

YB S. Manikavasagam called upon Indian’s Interventions to solve problem faced by Ethnic Indians in Malaysia whom misrepresented by few elite members. He cited recent example of how ruling government bullied Indians during Eid Mubarak Open house.

Earlier, India’s Minister for Overseas Affairs Shri Vayalar Ravi, announced additional grant of RM500,000 (or Rs 70 lakhs) to Indian Scholarship and Trust Fund, which will offer scholarships to meritorious and deserving students belonging to the minority community in the country. The trust was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946 and later Former Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee had also made an additional grant of 60 lakh rupees to the fund.

Overseas Affairs Ministry has also launched a scheme, Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC), recently to fund the higher education of Indian-origin students in universities in India.

Shri Ravi further extended his personal Invitation to YB S Manikavasagam to attend Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2009 from 7-9 January 2009 at Chennai , India.

Press statement by Ministry of Overseas Affairs.
Visit of Hon’ble Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs to Malaysia Hon’ble Mr. Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs of India, is paying an official visit to Malaysia from 11 th to 13 th October 2008.

2. Earlier today, Dato Dr. S. Subramanian, Minister of Human Resources of Malaysia, hosted a lunch and had delegationlevel talks with the visiting Minister. During the meeting, the two Ministers discussed bilateral cooperation in various areas, and agreed to expedite the conclusion of the India Malaysia Memorandum of Understanding on recruitment and welfare of labour. This document will be signed during the visit of the Malaysian Minister of Human Resources to India in end December 2008 or early January 2009. It will provide an institutional framework for cooperation in promoting orderly recruitment and deployment of Indian workers in Malaysia and Malaysian workers in India. The MoU lays down the responsibilities of employers, workers and recruitment agencies as also the procedures for the employment of workers. It provides for the establishment of a Joint Working Group, which will supervise its implementation and work out detailed modalities. The first meeting of the Joint Working Group will take place in New Delhi at the time of the visit of the Malaysian Minister to India. The text of the document has already been finalized.

3. The two Ministers also agreed on cooperation in the area of training, including predeparture orientation of workers. The Malaysian Minister conveyed that a Labour Attaché would shortly be posted in Chennai to assist in the orderly movement of Indian workers to Malaysia.

4. Hon’ble Mr. Vayalar Ravi also met Dato Seri Mohd. Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department responsible for Parliamentary Affairs and Law this afternoon. During the meeting, the two Ministers reviewed with satisfaction close cooperation between the Parliamentary institutions of India and Malaysia and agreed to further intensify exchanges. The Indian Minister invited Dato Seri Mohd. Nazri to lead a Parliamentary delegation to India. The invitation was accepted, and the dates of the visit will be decided through diplomatic channels.

5. On 12 th October, Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu hosted a dialogue cum dinner for the Indian Minister. During the visit, the Minister had extensive interactions with representatives of the Indian community in Malaysia, which numbers around 1.9 million. He had separate dialogue sessions with the Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, MalaysiaIndia Business Council, Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), and other Indian community organisations. The role of the Indian community in further enhancing the friendly relations between India and Malaysia, particularly in the areas of trade and investment, educational exchanges and human resource development, and cultural linkages, was discussed.

6. The Hon’ble Minister announced the following initiatives to deepen contacts in these areas:

· An additional grant of RM 500,000 (Rs. 70 lakhs) for the corpus of the Indian Scholarship & Trust Fund, which offers scholarships to meritorious and deserving students belonging to the Indian community in Malaysia. The scholarship fund was personally founded by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946.This year, scholarships were disbursed to 85 students.

· MOIA has recently instituted a new scheme entitled Scholarship Program for Diaspora Children (SPDC) for education in higher and technical universities in India. The Hon’ble Minister invited Malaysian students of the Indian community to actively avail of this scheme and announced that sufficient slots would be allocated for deserving students. This program covers admission as well as an annual financial assistance of upto US$ 3,600 per student.

· An Education and Skills Fair will be held in Malaysia early next year to highlight new opportunities unfolding in the Indian higher educational sector.

· Hon’ble Minister stressed that India’s rapid economic progress is opening up great potential for Malaysian Indians to deepen linkages with India. The Ministry has set up the Overseas Indian Facilitation Center (OIFC) as a onestop platform of information and assistance for overseas Indians desiring to participate in India’s economic growth. The Minister announced that OIFC has selected Kuala Lumpur to host a regional investor meet in the first half of 2009, focusing on
opportunities in India’s infrastructure, healthcare, real estate, IT and other sectors of interest, and urged Malaysian Indians to leverage this facility.

· Hon’ble Minister announced that the Indian Council of Cultural Relations has decided to set up a fullfledged Indian Cultural Center in Kuala Lumpur with its own premises. The High Commission of India is taking steps to establish this Center early next year.

7. During his visit, the Hon’ble Minister also had an indepth exchange of views with the Commissioners of the National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia and representatives of Malaysian NGOs on issues relating to foreign workers in this country.


MP Kapar

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