PUTRAJAYA, March 18 — A total of 5.43 million individuals across the country have updated their data in the Central Database Hub (Padu) as of March 17, according to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

However, he said there were also 4,752 areas identified nationwide where the residents have not registered with Padu or any government assistance programme before.

"The residents of these areas, although identified as B40 and B60, did not have their data listed in any government assistance database before.

"Therefore, they are at risk of being left behind from receiving or being included in any future government programmes and assistance,” he told a press conference here today.

Selangor leads the list of areas not yet covered by Padu with 1,282 areas, followed by Kuala Lumpur (992), Sarawak (765), Sabah (620), Johor (271), Penang (243), Kelantan (228), Kedah (157), Pahang (70), Perak (67), Terengganu (35), Negeri Sembilan (eight), Perlis (seven), Putrajaya (five) and Melaka (two).

Rafizi said most of the areas were PPR or public housing flats, condominiums, apartments, low-cost houses, quarters, shop houses, water houses or longhouses, and individual homes.

As such, he said the Ministry of Economy and the Padu team would give their focus in the last two weeks before the last date to update data on Padu on March 31, to intensify the registration of individuals and households in the database, especially those identified as having the highest risk of being left behind.

He said a town hall session will be held this Saturday (March 23) at the MBSA Convention Centre in Shah Alam aimed at providing information on the benefits of Padu and obtaining cooperation from relevant parties to help increase registration among the residents in those areas, especially in Selangor and the Kuala Lumpur, before the deadline.

The town hall session will also be attended by the relevant members of Parliament, assemblymen, district officers, mayors and presidents of local authorities, as well as representatives from Joint Management Bodies (JMB).

Rafizi said Padu registration counters will also be open throughout the town hall session to assist the residents in registering and updating their data on Padu.

"I also call on all state governments to take similar steps to encourage Padu registration for residents in those areas,” he said.

Taking Kuala Lumpur as an example, Rafizi said that areas with a higher non-Malay population such as Seputeh, Segambut, and Bukit Bintang are at risk of exclusion because these groups may not be aware of the government’s assistance programmes.

This is because the previous approach required individuals in need to go to government departments to apply for government aid, but with Padu, the government can identify individuals eligible for assistance.

Padu, launched on Jan 2, is among the government's initiatives to develop a database that will serve as the primary source of reference for all government agencies in making decisions based on accurate data, in addition to enhancing the efficiency of government service delivery to improve people’s wellbeing.

Padu also aims to assist the government in strengthening the nation's fiscal sustainability and providing space to implement fiscal reforms to enhance spending efficiency. — Bernama