THE implementation of the Central Database Hub (Padu) will help the government provide a more accurate measurement of the socioeconomic position of the people and avoid omissions based on net disposable income.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said this measurement method takes into account one’s number of dependents and how many people in a household, cost of living according to location, distance to work and ownership of assets such as houses, vehicles and land.

“This approach also allows the government to move away from the concept of B40, M40 and T20 (income groups) and look more at the propriety of giving aid based on the criteria set,” he said in his speech at the Padu launch ceremony in Putrajaya today.

Rafizi said the development of Padu is part of effort towards “Govtech” through the provision of a safe, comprehensive and “near real-time” national main database that allows more accurate data analytics to be produced.

“Padu also supports the three main aspects that are emphasised in Govtech, namely public services that are easily accessible and people-centric, digital government transformation and an efficient, transparent and uncomplicated government system.

“The availability of Padu will help policy formulation and the data-driven policy-making process,” he said.

He said Padu includes individual profiles containing basic demographic information, address, education, household, employment, income, commitments and aid received, and some of this data has been supplied by various ministries and agencies integrated into Padu.

Although various information has been integrated into the Padu system, Rafizi said there is still information that needs to be updated by each individual involving 39 variables.

Updating by the individual themselves will be able to guarantee the validity of data and reflect the latest status of the people in Padu.

This, he said, would improve the mechanism for determining target groups, streamlining delivery channels and enable more effective programme implementation.

Meanwhile, the Statistics Department Malaysia chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the success of Padu depends on the authenticity of the data obtained from the people who register.

“(Thus), I call on everyone to provide real data during registration and verification. Although we already have data from various agencies and ministries, we give the people the opportunity to check their main data to ensure that the data we have is the most accurate and up to date,” he added.

Moving forward, he said the data should be made a strategic asset of the country.

Uzir said Padu utilises all the people’s data available in various government ministries and agencies, depending on the age of the individual, with the data limited to the relevant agencies. – Bernama, January 2, 2024.