THE government will set up a task force to look into the welfare of Indians, women, youth and Orang Asli, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman said he will be heading the task force with Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu.

“We have to look into all their problems and give priority to the minorities. The most important thing is to look into the Indian community,” he said at the Bersatu office in Petaling Jaya.

PKR vice-president Xavier Jayakumar said issues faced by the Indian community were raised during the presidential council meeting today.

“The Indian community was part of the PH manifesto. We have suggested that it be done through government mechanisms that are also used for women, youths and the Orang Asli communities.

“To get it done we have to go through the government. That is why he (Dr Mahathir) has made himself chair for the implementation. It will also be expanded to other ministries,” he said.

Xavier said one of PH’s policies to be implemented within 100 days in power was to convert all red identification cards (IC) to blue cards.

“This issue will have to be addressed by the home minister. The problem of Indians having red ICs is quite serious.

“We don’t know the actual figures. It might be 30,000 or 300,000 as no one has done a complete study on it.

“Some of us have already started this (survey) in our own areas where we are registering those with red ICs,” he said.

Xavier also said that they are looking into children without birth certificates.

“My stand is that if they are born in Malaysia then they immediately become citizens of the country.

“Irrespective of whether both the parents are Malaysians or only one parent is a citizen. We want to improve the quality of life for the children because then they can go to school and enjoy the facilities provided by the government.” – May 17, 2018.