Malaysian government has doubled the quota for the Ethnic Indians' in the country's civil service from 3.5 percent to seven percent. The decision was taken by Premier Abdullah Badawi on Friday (November 21). Currently the country's civil services are dominated by Malays, who form the majority of Malaysia's 27 million population.

Human Resources Minister D S Subramaniam said that Abdullah had also given an assurance that applications for the civil service would be approved based on job descriptions and merit.

Subramaniam, earlier in a statement, had urged the Public Services Commission (PSC) to ensure a minimum intake of at least seven percent of ethnic Indians in all job categories in the public service.

Ethnic Indians, a majority of them Tamils, form eight percent of Malaysia's population. Among topics discussed were the intake of Indians into the civil service and promotions possibilities, Tamil school issues, single mothers, stateless Indians and business opportunities for Indians.