Padu’s 29 million target

Goal-oriented approach: Fahmi visiting the ‘Jualan Termurah, Berkhidmat Untuk Rakyat’ sales programme at the Kerinchi People’s Housing Project in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Digital Economy Centres (PEDi) and Residents Representative Council (MPP) teams will be mobilised to increase the number of registration for the Central Database Hub (Padu), says Fahmi Fadzil.

The Communications Minister also urged MPs to encourage mass registration so that the target of 29 million users can be achieved by March 31.

“We have MPPs in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, and in other places, there are similar structures,” Fahmi said yesterday.

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“So, besides PEDi, this machinery can be deployed to assist the community,” he said after observing the ‘Jualan Termurah, Berkhidmat Untuk Rakyat’ sales programme at the Kerinchi People’s Housing Project here.

Fahmi, reported Bernama, added that there might be a need for sessions to train others to expedite registration as the system has only been online for a week.

“Those who are tech-savvy might have successfully registered, but to reach the target by the end of March, MPs can also play their role,” Fahmi said, adding that registration would continue to be through online-only methods.

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Launched on Jan 2, Padu is the government’s central hub for data on citizens which is aimed at distributing aid and subsidies efficiently and accurately.

The database, which civil servants took six months to build, is part of the unity government’s overall plan to restructure subsidies for fuel and electricity, which are currently enjoyed by everyone regardless of their income levels.

Padu will allow the government to target aid and subsidies based on whether a person or family qualifies for them.

Aside from just household and individual income, Padu contains data on the number of dependents a person has, their household size, cost of living based on where they live, distance to workplace and assets such as a house, car and land.

As of noon on Jan 5, more than 612,000 users have registered with Padu, which the government said surpassed its target of registering 200,000 accounts per day.