Ex-MP calls for action on Indian share of civil service jobs

Charles Santiago, a former Klang MP, has called for action to address the underrepresentation of Indian officers in the civil service. According to a recent disclosure in Parliament, only 3.63% of the 1.3 million civil servants are Indian, despite the community making up about 6.5% of the population. This means there is a shortage of about 37,000 Indian officers, with 47,349 currently holding positions out of a total of 1.3 million civil servants.

Santiago urged the government to set a deadline to achieve equitable representation of Indians in the civil service. He emphasized that the government has a responsibility to fund targeted upskilling programs and courses to bridge the gap. From 2021 to 2025, only 5,289 out of 194,807 applications submitted by Indians to the Public Services Commission resulted in appointments.

Santiago questioned whether the merit-based criteria used in the selection process were applied consistently across all communities and called for transparency in the process.

He stressed that if applicants are being turned away for being underqualified, the government bears the responsibility to close that gap. Santiago argued that merit alone cannot be used to explain the low representation of Indians in the civil service, especially when the selection process remains opaque. He insisted that the government should provide an explanation for the disparity and take action to ensure fair representation for the Indian community.