KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25: Deputy National Unity Minister Senator Saraswathy Kandasami on Sunday launched a new initiative – Aram – to tackle the issue of citizenship still faced by some people in the country and the problem of inter-generational statelessness that affect their family members as well as the failure of proper education for children mired in poverty and socio economic problems.
Aram, which translates into good deeds in the Tamil language, will focus on two programmes, one being helping those who have yet to be accorded citizenship despite having been born or residents of this country even before Merdeka and how this has affected their subsequent generations.
The initiative also aims to ensure that each child has full access to quality education in the country with the help of the government, schools and NGOs.
At the launch, Saraswathy stressed that while there were already other initiatives taken towards tackling the issue of citizenship, she said that the Unity Ministry under the Madani government will have the added benefit of having representation at community levels and the needed support systems to implement its initiative through various programmes.
The government will be working with dedicated volunteers from NGOs towards addressing the problems faced by the people, she said, including providing the necessary assistance for children whose education had been affected by issues of poverty and family instability.
A dedicated website: www.aram.my has been also set up to coordinate and provide a point of contact for the people with the efforts taken by the government under the initiative.
–WE