Minister of Social Affairs: Social Security is Important to Protect the Community

JAKARTA (November 29, 2023) - The importance of social security as an effort to protect the community was a message emphasized by Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini at the Round Table Discussion organized by the Deputy for Strategic Studies of the National Defense Institute on Wednesday (29/11) at the Astagatra Building of Lemhanas RI.

"We agree that there must be patterns of health insurance, work accidents, death insurance, and old age insurance. We have to think about what kind of insurance if they get sick," said the Minister.

Furthermore, the Minister said that it is not only the poor who must have social security. Middle-class or well-off citizens are also at risk of falling into poverty because they do not have health insurance when they are sick.

"In Surabaya, I used to call it Sadikin (Sakit menjadi Miskin or Sick to Poor). So, he is a family that is not poor and can eat every day. But, once he had to pay for an operation of one hundred million, he immediately fell into poverty," the Minister mentioned an example of a case that needs attention as well.

The Minister mentioned that for the poor and vulnerable, the Ministry of Social Affairs has provided Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) which is used for BPJS Recipient of Contribution Assistance (PBI) source data. This data is always updated because every day there are always births, deaths, and people who have escaped poverty or have just fallen into poverty.

Currently, there are still many vulnerable groups of workers, who generally work in the informal sector, who have not yet become participants in the employment social security program. This means that many workers are not yet covered.

To overcome these problems, Professional Expert in Social and Cultural Affairs of Lemhannas RI Dadang Solihin said that several things can be done to strengthen the Labor Social Security, namely strengthening the legal protection, both at the central and regional levels, providing funds through regulations.

"There are several things needed in strengthening Social Security Workers, namely the issuance of a Presidential Instruction or mandate for regional governments. Second, asking local governments to continue to protect and provide protection funds for regional workers by existing regulations," said Dadang.

In addition to this, the government must also provide support in the form of requiring Jamsosnaker membership, socializing Jamsosnaker, and building a conducive employment ecosystem.

"The government must also encourage formal workers who are vulnerable workers to be required to register for the Jamsosnaker Program. Fourth, the socialization of the Social Security Program, BPJS Employment builds a conducive employment ecosystem," added Dadang.