Perak govt urged to appoint Indians to represent villages

COMMUNITY leaders have asked the Perak government to give priority to the appointment of Indians as heads of villages with many Indian residents, Makkal Osai reported.

Under the previous state government, seven Indian leaders were appointed as village heads, but this was delayed under the current government, former Manjung councillor P. Arumugam said.

He said residents in these villages need the endorsement for various government, education and social welfare matters, and the lack of village heads was detrimental to their welfare.

The village heads can also help the residents deal with local issues such as water and electricity bills, as well as garbage collection.

The residents are struggling to find the right people in charge for such complaints and assistance, former councillor K. Thingaran said.

Currently there is no Indian representative in the state executive council and no special adviser to the mentri besar for Indian affairs.

There is also no one holding the Indian affairs portfolio, community leaders M. Kuppusamy and P. Munusamy said.

Those interviewed by the daily urged the state government and the mentri besar to look in the matter.

> The daily also reported that a 10-year-old girl from Tamil Nadu, India, now holds 41 world records for feats in yoga and swimming.

Prisha from Tirunelveli district began practising the traditional Indian art of yoga when she was just a year old, encouraged by her mother Devipriya, who is a yoga teacher.

By the time she was five, the prodigy had won more than 100 gold medals in yoga-related competitions.

She also won international water yoga competitions in Malaysia and Thailand in 2018 and 2019.

The young exponent is the country’s youngest recipient of an honorary doctorate from a Delhi medical university,

Prisha, her mother, along with grandmother Ravichandrika are also planning a joint world record attempt for underwater yoga.