Padu: M'sians look forward to more effective, fairer distribution of subsidies

Statistics Department officer Khairunnisa Khaidir (right) helping Lokita Karthyayini Supramaniam (second from rtight), Mohamad Amjad Mohamed Zahari (second from left) and Phang Yoke Hang register and access the Padu system that was launched on Tuesday. - Photo: Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians can now look forward to a fairer distribution of aid and a more effective rationalisation of subsidies with the implementation of the Central Database Hub (Padu) that was officially launched Tuesday (Jan 2).

Padu will be able to assist in addressing leakages in the provision of asisstance and subsidies after it identifies monthly household incomes, expenses and living costs according to locations in detail, instead of the previous metric based on gross incomes and the B40, M40 and T20 classifications.

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Civil servant Suzana Ismail, 43, shared her views on Padu when met by Bernama today, stating that the system would allow the government to update the provision of assistance holistically and identify those who are really in need of aid.

"This is the kind of improvements we’ve been waiting for as the M40 category has not received much asisstance but are still burdened with high expenses (due to) our residential locations, and might actually be in the B40 category or poor due to today’s economic challenges.

"With better targeted subsidies, which take into consideration our total expenses, the government can save much more money and provide an assortment of aid for the people,” she said, adding that previous methods had disqualified her from receiving any aid even though she had very high monthly commitments.

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"In my instance, I spend over RM1,000 a month on my three children’s schooling, tuition and fees, and this doesn’t include outdoor activities like swimming and silat, and to top it off, there’s payments for the house, car and other stuff.

"A review of the aid implementation is long overdue, so what’s being done today is really timely especially with the challenges we face due to the current high costs of living,” she added.

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Meanwhile, Nilai Polytechnic lecturer Syafawati Noorhafizah Adnan Adil, 38, expressed her hope that the Padu system will be constantly monitored to ensure that it achieves its objective, saying that registering for the system should be much easier, and less problematic for users, while focusing on stronger security features to ensure there are no data breaches.

"It does seem that the Padu system will become a more effective mechanism for targeted subsidies as it is integrated and comprehensive at all levels of society but the system needs to be simplified to allow everyone to access it well,” she said.

ALSO READ: Padu will plug subsidy, aid leakages, says Anwar

Padu was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday and aims to plug leakages in the provision of assistance and subsidies.

Its introduction is in line with the national digital transformation approach, which guarantees that all government facilities can be enjoyed by all qualified recipients. - Bernama