Ramanan backs Mitra's decision to give refurbished laptops to Tamil schools

Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister R Ramanan has defended the move by the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) to distribute refurbished laptops to SJKTs, stressing that the decision was made based on the funds available.

He said providing new laptops would incur far higher costs and affect the implementation of other programmes, and Mitra’s monitoring reports showed that the initiative had benefited students, teachers, and school administrators.

“Why give second-hand laptops? This is Mitra; we are not the Education Ministry, Communications Ministry, or Digital Ministry. We have to do what is reasonable.

“If we give new laptops, we will be using up a huge amount of funds, and if we use up such funds, how are we going to carry out other programmes?” he said at a press conference in Parliament today.

He was commenting on allegations by certain quarters that the laptops provided under Mitra’s laptop assistance programme were refurbished and of no benefit to SJKT students.

Ramanan, who is also a former Mitra chairperson, said all laptops provided were supplied by Google through its corporate social responsibility programme, and so far, 6,000 units have been distributed to 520 SJKTs.

“All of them come with a warranty, and so far, surveys on the impact show school administrators and teachers reporting positive impact from the programme. The supplier has resolved all complaints submitted by the schools from time to time,” he said.

Mitra’s laptop assistance programme was launched in 2023 to help SJKT students be better prepared to meet 21st-century learning needs and to reduce the digital divide in rural and urban schools.

On questions regarding Mitra’s Aviation Training Programme with Westar Aviation, Ramanan said that to date, 75 out of 100 participants are undergoing on-the-job training, including aircraft maintenance, while the remaining 25 participants will begin training this September.

“If you want the list of names, I will provide it, because when all the programmes were announced in Parliament the other day, maybe some people were dissatisfied. Never mind, I’ll take responsibility so that we can put this to rest,” he said.

In a separate press conference, Mitra Special Task Force Committee chairperson P Prabakaran said he and the entire committee welcomed the prime minister’s announcement for the Indian community today.

However, he also expressed hope that irresponsible quarters would stop spreading false information and provoking the Indian community.

- Bernama

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