SHAH ALAM: The establishment of the proposed Gig Economy Commission will be expedited once approval from the Cabinet is received, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

       He said he had put forward the proposal before last year's state elections after meeting industry players to improve the welfare of gig workers.

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       "I believe that the commission needs to be formed soon as there are over 1.2 million workers in the sector.

       "They need to contribute to the Social Security Organisation (Socso), and employers must also make sure of that, on top of contributions to the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF)

       "Despite some challenges, I am committed, along with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to make the commission a reality," he told reporters after the Unity Ponggal celebration here on Sunday (Jan 21).

       "We will establish it after receiving approval from the Cabinet," he added.

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       Ahmad Zahid had said in July that the body, tentatively called the Malaysian Gig Economy Commission (SEGiM), was aimed at resolving issues in the informal work ecosystem and create initiatives that will safeguard the welfare of consumers, vendors, traders, workers and service platform providers.

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       On Friday (Jan 19), a peaceful protest was held by a group of about 300 Grab delivery riders to demand the company resolve several issues.

       On a separate matter, Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, said village heads nationwide would be mobilised to help those living in rural areas to register with the Central Database Hub (Padu).

       "There is manual registration provided for Padu to ensure that all target groups can be addressed.

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       "We will mobilise village heads and leaders to help (people in) their areas to register for Padu using offline platforms too," he added.

       The government has targeted registering 29 million people for Padu by March.

       Earlier this year, Anwar had said that Padu was meant to ensure efficient distribution of aid and subsidies to the target groups.