KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has been urged to set up a special unit to handle the issue of Malaysian Indians without birth certificates and MyKad.

MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said the issue affected over 20,000 people and that such a unit was necessary because the National Registration Department (NRD) took a long time to resolve these cases.

“There have been instances when a case was resolved only after it was highlighted in the media,” he told reporters yesterday.

Mohan said he had handled these cases for more than seven years but achieved a success rate of only between 6% and 7%.

MIC Youth, he said, was currently handling 500 cases of people who did not have birth certificates and MyKad.

Mohan said it was urgent to have such a unit, highlighting the plight of 53-year-old Margret Periyanayaga, who has yet to obtain her citizenship despite being born in the country.

Margret, who has a red MyKad, submitted her application nine years ago but has yet to receive any reply from the NRD.

“My three children are overseas but I am unable to visit them as I fear my application for citizenship will be rescinded,” she said, adding that her siblings had been issued with MyKad.

Student Kavitha Nowroji, 24, was legally adopted but she was still issued with a red MyKad when the application was made.

Kavitha said she was having difficulty getting loans to pursue her studies in University Selangor.