PUTRAJAYA, March 20 — The organising of the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) roadmap workshop aims to realign the agency’s direction, focusing more on high-impact programmes for the Indian community.

Minister of National Unity Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang said there is a need to refocus Mitra’s direction, considering that the agency is now under the purview of the Ministry of National Unity, besides several constraints under the 2021 Indian Community Action Plan (PTMI) that need to be reviewed.

"Pemandu Associate consulting firm has conducted a detailed study on PTMI.

"Through this study, it was found that only six out of 23 PTMI strategies fall under Mitra’s jurisdiction, hence this workshop will help to realign these matters to be synchronised with Mitra’s mandate,” he said, hence dismissing claims from some parties that reviewing Mitra’s direction is a waste of time.

The minister said this after launching the two-day roadmap workshop here today, which was also attended by relevant stakeholders, representatives from public and private agencies, as well as religious organisations.

Among the mandates outlined for Mitra are strategies to eradicate poverty, citizenship and documentation issues, temples and religious matters, as well as women’s welfare.

Prior to this, Makkal Sakti Party president Datuk Seri RS Thanenthiran reportedly criticised the ministry’s decision to organise a workshop to review Mitra’s direction and described it as demeaning to the Indian community, besides being a waste of time and money.

In another development, Aaron said the ministry is leaving it to the Home Ministry (KDN) to address the viral issue involving the sale of socks bearing the word ‘Allah’ at a convenience store chain, recently.

"We are the Ministry of Unity, we do not want division, we only want unity.

"KDN is best suited to address the issue at hand,” he said. — Bernama