The Kota Kinabalu MIC division today passed a resolution to propose a senatorship for Sabah MIC chairman Datuk V. Jothi.

MIC vice-president Datuk T. Mohan said he would bring up the matter to the party leadership for consideration.

"Datuk Jothi deserves the senatorship. He has done a lot for the Indian community in Sabah. Why the MIC is here (in Sabah) today is because of Datuk Jothi who set up the party here almost 20 years ago," he told reporters after the Kota Kinabalu MIC divisional conference here.

He said Jothi was well-versed in many issues involving the Indian community in the state, including the permanent resident (PR) status dilemma concerning Indians who had migrated from the Peninsular.

Mohan also suggested that a one-stop centre be set up in Sabah to assist the Indian community from the Peninsular, especially students and civil servants posted here.

As the number of Indians in Sabah continued to grow, Mohan said the MIC leadership agreed to reduce the minimum number of members for a branch from 50 to 30 to enable more branches to be set up statewide.

Meanwhile, Jothi said the MIC had about 3,000 members in Sabah and efforts were underway to increase the number.

He thanked Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman for the attention on 122 Indians seeking PR status in the state.

However, he hoped the state government would speed up the application process as they were among 202 Indians from the Peninsular who came to Sabah under the Migration Fund Board in 1968. The rest had been awarded PR status, he said.

Jothi said there were currently about 12,000 Indians residing in Sabah and some 4,000 were registered voters in all parliamentary and state constituencies.

-- BERNAMA