The Indian Studies Department of Universiti Malaya, the nation's premier university, will not be re-named and would be headed by a qualified Malaysian Indian, the cabinet decided today.

Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam, the sole Indian representative in the cabinet, said the cabinet was against the department's name change, as proposed by several quarters.

He said the cabinet had also directed the higher education ministry to ensure that an eligible Malaysian Indian headed the department.

"These two important decisions, it is hoped, will put a stop to all speculation on the status of the department, and who would head it," he told reporters today.

The issue surfaced early last month, when the university decided to appoint a non-Indian to head the department.

This was strongly criticised by the Indian community and the MIC.

The university authorities were also mulling a name change to the department after several proposals.

"I hope the cabinet decision today would put an end to all sorts of speculation on the status of the department and its head. Too many things have been said, and enough is enough. We do not want this to spiral into a race issue," said Subramaniam, who is also MIC secretary-general.

He said the Cabinet's decision also received the full backing of the higher education ministry.

No stand on Raya bonus

On the Hari Raya bonus payment for civil servants, the minister said that today's cabinet meeting discussed the matter but did not make a stand.

"Our economy is not good at this point in time. We have a deficit of four per cent. The nation has been hit badly by the economic crisis. Although we discussed the matter, we have to take into account the current economic situation of the country," he added.

On another note, Subramaniam said, human resources officials from both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments were in the midst of several meetings to iron out various hurdles to re-admit Indonesian maids to work here.

"They had a meeting on Aug 20, and another has been planned for Sept 5 in Jakarta. We have to wait for the outcome of these meetings before any decision can be announced," he said, expressing confidence it could be sorted out soon.

About two months ago, Indonesia barred its maids from seeking employment in Malaysia after reports of several maid abuse cases were highlighted in the media.

- Bernama