Giving an additional ministerial post to MIC as announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at the MIC AGM on July 30th is not appropriate and the timing is totally wrong.

What the PM did was to please the MIC but did not take into the account the situation of the Indian community which is facing very serious challenges in areas like education, employment opportunities, contracts, housing, gangsterism etc.

The BN government should come up with constructive policies and implement strategies to overcome the issues with definite timelines.

This would have been a good selling point to the community.

Giving a ministerial post to G Palanivel does not go down well because he has failed to win in the last general election and we should not reward candidates who are not winnable candidates.

He needs to undergo rehabilitation to improve his interpersonal skills, spend more time with the voters to identify the needs, make innovative plans to improve performance and become a winnable candidate.

The Indian community does not need two ministers but needs help from the government to address the challenges the Indians are facing.

Their share in the economy, employment and educational opportunities are declining, thus forcing the Indians to vent their anger by supporting opposition candidates.

Lastly, MIC should work for all Indians and should not confine themselves just to helping MIC members or focus on Tamil related problems.