KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — The Central Database Hub (Padu) launched yesterday could help plug leakages and make sure more than RM100 billion of government aid and government subsidies reach all of Malaysia’s needy, which would also help fight hardcore poverty, the prime minister said today.
Explaining why the government launched Padu, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Facebook said the government has been spending around RM22 billion to help the poor and the needy, especially those in rural and interior areas, but said studies have found that not all of these funds reach the target groups due to leakages.
Anwar said the nearly RM80 billion of government subsidies should be enjoyed only by those who are poor, but said such subsidies are also enjoyed by 3.5 million non-citizens of Malaysia and the wealthy.
“How would it be possible for hardcore poverty to still exist in this country if the RM22 billion expenditure and the RM80 billion subsidies all reach the poor and needy,” he wrote in a Facebook post today.
In the same Facebook post, Anwar included a video clip of excerpts from his speech at Padu’s launch yesterday, where he had described the national database as being in line with digital transformation policies and would help ensure targeted benefits to be enjoyed by those entitled to do so while reducing costs and leakages.
In the brief video clip, Anwar noted that not all those who are need receive the RM22 billion government aid while government subsidies have now reached almost RM80 billion, suggesting that it would be financially unsustainable for Malaysia if steps are not taken to address these issues.
“And don’t compromise, because without Padu, there are too many leakages; without Padu, effective implementation, too many leakages and cheating. If there is no reason why there are still groups considered poor in the country, if expenditure of RM22 billion to help the poor and RM80 billion subsidises, there’s something wrong somewhere,” he said.
Padu — now considered the most comprehensive database established by the government to date — is a system containing individual and household profiles encompassing citizens and permanent residents in Malaysia.
Padu integrates microdata from various government departments and agencies to create profiles of individuals and households for some 28.3 million Malaysian citizens.
The objective of Padu is to provide a safe, comprehensive and near real-time national main database that enables more accurate data analytics to be produced as well as for policy formulation and data-driven decision-making processes, besides enabling targeted policy implementation to balance the fiscal position.
On November 8 last year, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said official statistics show that hardcore poverty is currently at 0.2 per cent or involving around 18,000 households in Malaysia.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s 2022 report on poverty in Malaysia released last July, households with income falling below the food poverty line income (or the minimum income required to meet the household’s basic food needs) are considered as hardcore poor.
The average food poverty line income throughout Malaysia can range from RM1,036 to RM1,367 depending on state as of 2022, with the national average food poverty line income being RM1,198 as of the same year.
