Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced that the government plans to utilise data collected from 217 departments and agencies for various government programs, including targeted subsidies, to address the low registration rate for the Central Database Hub (PADU).
Fahmi said that as of 15 February, only 3.43 million people, or 10% of the country’s population, had updated their information in the database, according to a FMT news report.
Despite efforts to promote PADU’s goal of delivering targeted subsidies, there is reluctance, especially among the T20 and M40 income groups, who believe they are ineligible.
Policy researcher Lim Chee Han attributes the low registration to scepticism and the perception that the government already has their information.
Fahmi emphasises the importance of registration, citing potential outdated data from departments and agencies.
He assures the public of the database’s security, having been assessed by cybersecurity agencies, and mentions that PADU will be managed by the statistics department.
