Ministry of Social Affairs Clarifies the Distribution of IDR 600,000 Social Aid

JAKARTA (April 16, 2020) - The Ministry of Social Affairs is focusing on the distribution of Sembako (groceries) Social Aid to COVID-19 affected residents in DKI Jakarta. Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P. Batubara confirmed that information related to IDR 600,000 social aid circulating on public was not the Sembako Social Aid which the process of distribution was already underway by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"Sembako Aid is channeled to meet basic needs and withhold community desires from going hometown. This is not the assistance worth IDR 600,000 that might be misunderstood by the community," said Social Minister Juliari, in his statement in Jakarta, Thursday (04/16/2020).

False information circulating recently concerns the Minister of Social Affairs. Many people questioned the realization of IDR 600,000/month social aid valued for those affected by COVID-19.

"The Ministry of Social Affairs is currently focusing on distributing new social aid, the Sembako Aid. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs has also increased the assistance value and expanded the beneficiaries of regular social assistance, namely Family Hope Program (PKH) and Groceries Program (formerly known as BPNT)," said the Minister.

The Sembako Aid packages consist of basic food items and instant meals for informal workers in DKI Jakarta affected by COVID-19. The beneficiaries of groceries aid are 3.7 million people based on data from the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government. The Ministry of Social Affairs distributes aid for 2.6 million people, while the aid for the rest 1.1 million uses DKI Jakarta Regional Budget.

"To support the distribution of Sembako Aid, the Ministry of Social Affairs built Social Aid Post at the Main National Heroes Cemetery Park Convention Hall, Kalibata, Jakarta. There were 300,000 packages Sembako Aid distributed from 7 to 19 April 2020 "said the Minister of Social Affairs Juliari.

The social aid is expected to meet the beneficiaries’ basic needs and withhold community desires from going hometown. The packages from the Ministry of Social Affairs use red cardboard boxes with the slogan #KemensosHADIR (MoSA is present) printed on them.

"We use red boxes for our packages with the Ministry of Social Affairs logo and the tagline #KemensosHADIR printed on them. The aid packages on the viral video circulating on social media are different. It is definitely not from the Ministry of Social Affairs," he said.

The Ministry of Social Affairs does not directly distribute the groceries. Those who want to get the Sembako Aid, can register through the regional government’s social service agency.

The beneficiaries of Sembako Aid are the family of Persons Under Investigation (ODP), Patients under Supervision (PDP), informal sector workers and other vulnerable communities whose data were proposed by social services in five regions of DKI Jakarta Province.

The Sembako Aid is distributed in several stages by the social service agency and social care community through the sub-districts and kelurahan (urban village) then to the beneficiaries’ homes.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has also increased the aid value and recipient coverage for regular social assistance programs, namely the Family Hope Program (PKH) and the Sembako Program.

PKH has expanded its beneficiaries to 10 million families, and changed its distribution from every 3 months to monthly. For the Sembako Program, the beneficiaries increase from 15.2 million to 20 million families. The assistance value also increases from Rp150,000/month/family to Rp200,000/month/family.

Bureau of Public Relations

Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs