MIC president S Samy Vellu has appealed to the government to reconsider its decision to phase out Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships for undergraduate studies overseas, saying that it will be "unfair and unjust to students from poor families".

He urged the government to allocate additional scholarships for non-bumiputras, especially Indian students, under the PSD overseas degree scholarships for this year.

"These bright students, especially those from poor families, will be denied their dreams to pursue their studies at internationally-recognised universities worldwide,” he said in a statement here today.

The former works minister said he understood the financial constraints faced by the government, but with the government now giving priority to human capital development, it would only reverse the policy.

Samy Vellu was commenting on Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz’s statement last Sunday that the government would phase out the 1,500 PSD scholarships for overseas degrees beginning next year.

- Bernama