PUTRAJAYA, Feb 7 — The Madani Rakyat programme will be held on an appropriate scale in six states this year to continue efforts to spread government initiatives and achievements to the people, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He told a media conference after the Cabinet meeting at the Communications Ministry here today that the programme would be held at the central zone in Selangor from February 23-25, north zone in Penang (April 26-28); east zone in Pahang (June 28-30); south zone in Johor (July 25-27); Sarawak (September 27-29); and Sabah (October 18-20).

"The Madani Rakyat programme focuses more on services that can be provided by government agencies, including the Central Database Hub (Padu) system registration.

"Also provided are several other services by agencies, departments and ministries for us to deliver the latest information, in addition to programmes and policies to the community,” said Fahmi, who is also the Government spokesman, adding that the programme is a continuation of the Madani Government One Year Anniversary Programme last year.

As for the costs involved, he said it would not be a high amount as the programme would be implemented with the cooperation of state governments.

Last year, the Madani Government One Year Anniversary Programme, which was organised by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) through the Performance Acceleration Coordination Unit (Pacu) and Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), also involved the strategic collaboration of various ministries and agencies, government-linked companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private sector and stakeholders.

In another development, Fahmi said the government does not intend to regulate content broadcast through social media, especially through podcasts by social media influencers.

However, he said the government is ready to take action, if necessary, once the broadcast content has been evaluated.

"For now, the government has no intention to regulate content produced but, as ‘podcaster’ Khairy Jamaluddin said, if there is any excessiveness in terms of morals and limits, then the government will, after proper evaluation, take action if necessary.

He said this when commenting on a news report that a podcast programme had invited an individual, who is facing sexual charges, as a guest.

Following that, he said his ministry had received several reports regarding the matter but could not find the content anywhere on the social media platform.

As such, he advised influencers to self-regulate when producing content because the country has laws and culture.

"At the same time, we have the right to speak as stated in the Federal Constitution but there are limits,” he said. — Bernama