The Ministry of Health's decision to scrap the Bahasa Malaysia (BM) requirement for contracted medical personnel has come under fire from Umno Youth.

Pahang Umno Youth Sahar Abdullah said that doing so would result in "double standards" because all civil servants must possess at least a pass for BM at the SPM level.

He added that the ministry's decision had also effectively undermined the status of BM as the official language.

"(This policy) challenges the Federal Constitution which under Articles 161 and 152 upheld BM as the national language and official language for all government business.

"Pahang Umno Youth urges the ministry to retract its waiver on BM qualification and review the impact of such a decision, especially on the future status of BM and the Federal Constitution as a basis for nation-building," he said in a statement today.