The Directorate General of PFM Holds a Meeting on the Implementation of the PFM Social Assistance Program

BALI (November 16, 2020) – The Directorate General of Poverty Handling (PFM) held a Meeting on Controlling the Implementation of the Social Assistance Program for Poverty Handling in 2020 which was attended by the Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara virtually.

There were 1,624 participants in the activity, including the Head of the Poverty Handling at the Provincial Social Office, the Head of the Regency/City Social Officeand the Head of the Poverty Handling at the Regency/City Social Office. Also present were the Regency/City Regional Coordinator (KORDA) and the Sub-District Food Social Assistance Representative Representative (TKSK Coordinator) who were divided into 3 different places considering the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In this activity, the Minister of Social Affairs conveyed the message that synergy and collaboration are important things in handling the poor. "Communication with the regions must always be open, must always be fluid, because handling the poor requires good synergy and cooperation from various parties," he said.

The Minister of Social Affairs also hopes that the principle of justice must be prioritized, so that people who have received assistance for a long time can be reviewed and provide opportunities for those who have not received assistance. "Don't just receive aid—that's all, since the Raskin, Rastra, and BPNT programs to basic food data—that's all, while there are still poor people out there who haven't received any assistance at all," said the Social Minister.

With the SKB of 3 Ministers (Social Minister, Home Affairs Minister and Finance Minister) there will be incentives and penalties for social offices that continue to update their data or those who don't. This is because in 2021 there will be a massive update of the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) from 29 million KPM to 41 million KPM," added the Minister of Social Affairs.

The government predicts that in 2021 the impact of Covid-19 has not completely subsided. For this reason, the government will continue the BST Special Social Assistance program for 6 months, which is targeted to reach 10 million KPM with an aid index of Rp200.000/KPM/month with a budget allocation of Rp12 trillion. Meanwhile, the Basic Food program is allocated at Rp44.7 trillion.

The Minister of Social Affairs has high hopes for the establishment of strategic partnerships through good synergy and collaboration between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Provincial/District/City Social Services, Himbara, PT. POS, the business world, community organizations and other stakeholders, social assistance programs for handling the poor, will be carried out well and smoothly.

In his report, the Director General of Poverty Handling Asep Sasa Purnama explained that with this meeting, it is hoped that solutions will emerge to resolve the obstacles and obstacles faced in the implementation of the Social Assistance Program through synergy and collaboration between the center and the regions as well as encourage increased realization of the Poverty Handling budget through the Deconcentration Fund and the Distribution of Social Assistance throughout the region.