Malaysians who’ve not registered on the Pangkalan Data Utama (PADU) socio-economic database will still have their basic data automatically entered into the system. This information was conveyed by chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin to reporters during a press conference on Sunday.
“In the PADU system, we have data for about 30 million Malaysians,” he said. “However, this is only their basic data, which we have collected from various agencies.”
Mohd Uzir elaborated that dynamic data from the public is needed to allow the Statistics Department to carry out analysis. For those who did not register with the system, the department will rely on existing basic data instead to facilitate the distribution of government aid.
The chief statistician insisted that the system, as well as the data stored in it, is secure. He also emphasised that PADU had continued to function without interruption or downtime since its launch on 2 January 2024, high traffic volume notwithstanding.
Registration for the system ended at midnight on Sunday, 31 March 2024. Mohd Uzir added that the number of individuals updating their information as of noon yesterday has increased to 10.8 million, equivalent to 48.3% of the total number of 21.96 million Malaysians, aged 18 and above.
There are currently no plans to extend the registration for PADU, as previously mentioned by economy minister Rafizi Ramli. This, according to him, is to allow the government to enable the implementation of subsidy restructuring in a timely manner, and extending the period would also cause a delay in the implementation of targeted subsidies in the future.
(Source: PADU [Facebook] / The Star / Bernama)
