The Perak government will discuss with Human Resource Minister M Kulasegaran on the implementation of the national-level Pakatan Harapan manifesto target of 10 percent of new jobs for the Indian community.

State health, consumerism, civil society, national integration and human resource committee chairperson A Sivanesan said the promise must be implemented to assist the Indian community, particularly the youths, to gain employment.

"If this pledge is implemented, the problem of unemployment could be resolved... the youths must be given space and job opportunities without regard to racial background.

“I will have a meeting with the human resource minister to discuss how this pledge can be implemented for the benefit of the Indian community,” he told reporters here today.

The Harapan election manifesto offered several promises specifically for the Indian community, one of which involves directing GLCs, federal and state government agencies, as well as local authorities to ensure that 10 percent of new hires are Indians. 

Earlier, Sivanesan, who is also Sungkai assemblyperson, received a complaint from a graduate, M Devedraa, 25, who claimed that his many job applications have been rejected despite being qualified. 

The chemical engineering graduate from Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), who has been unemployed for two years, said he had sent in job applications to over 200 companies, either directly or online.

“Among the reasons for the rejection of my applications was that I could not speak Mandarin.

“In addition, there were also companies that only wanted workers from a particular race,” Devedraa said.

- Bernama