Distribution of PKH until the End of May Hundreds of Percent Achieved

JAKARTA (June 2, 2020) - Distribution of social assistance funds for the Family Hope Program (PKH), which during the COVID-19 pandemic became every month since April, has reached one hundred percent. The Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara, continues to monitor the distribution of the PKH social assistance throughout Indonesia.

"Distribution is going well with the implementation of health protocol. Beneficiary Families (KPM) disburse social assistance with social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19," the Minister said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Juliari said that the Ministry of Social Affairs required PKH facilitators and coordinators to conduct socialization and education to KPM. The socialization included the matter of policies on changes in social assistance distribution time and the amount of value received per month, procedures for withdrawing social assistance, managing lost, damaged, or swallowed ATM cards, and including educating KPM on complaints procedures. This socialization was supported by the local government, the COVID-19 Task Force in cities and districts, as well as social assistance distribution banks.

"Welfare Family Card (KKS) must be brought by themselves and the process of taking social assistance is also carried out alone, may not be deposited or represented to anyone. Conversely, there must not be any compensation imposed to the KPM, "said the Minister.

Furthermore, Director General of Social Security Protection Pepen Nazarudin said that every PKH Facilitator and Coordinator who went to the field to guide the implementation of PKH social assistance was obliged to wear cloth masks, gloves, and use hand sanitizer. PKH Facilitator and Coordinators also coordinate and work with bank officers and agents which distributing the assistance.

"I have witnessed that PKH recipients have all been wearing masks. At the ATMs and banks, hand sanitizers are provided. There are also facilities for washing hands at the branch bank offices. The facilitators and coordinators of PKH also make a distance or barrier so that KPM is not crowded," he explained.

Pepen said, to improve the ability of PKH facilitators and coordinators to provide assistance to KPM especially during this pandemic, the Ministry of Social Affairs through the Directorate of Family Social Security, provided technical guidance (bimtek) for PKH facilitators throughout Indonesia with an online system, since last April.

The Bimtek was mainly given to PKH facilitator from the 2019 recruitment results, with participants from each city and district. Bimtek lasted two days with the provision of material including PKH Policy, the Code of Ethics, Participation, Validation and Termination, and Social Assistance.

"The capacity building program for PKH Facilitators continues even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is by utilizing technology. In addition to providing technical guidance on the implementation of online PKH distribution, we also at the same time hold dialogues and directly monitor how they socialize PKH social assistance in the field, "explained Pepen.

As is known, according to President Joko Widodo's direction, the government has prepared a social safety net for Indonesia's underprivileged families, so that they can maintain their purchasing power in meeting basic needs. Ministry of Social Affairs through PKH provides protection in the economic, health, education and social welfare sectors.

Responding to this pandemic situation, the Government also increased the PKH social assistance budget by 25 percent. PKH social assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic have been adjusted for each component, namely pregnant women and children aged 0-6 years to be Rp. 250 thousand per month, elementary school children to Rp. 75 thousand per month, junior high school children to be Rp. 125 thousand per month, Senior High School children becomes IDR166 thousand per month, and people with severe disabilities and elderly become IDR200 thousand per month. So that the total budget is Rp. 37.4 trillion.

The government also increased the number of KPM to 10 million from 9.2 million. This addition refers to the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs Data and Information Center (Pusdatin) and sourced from data updated by each regional government in Indonesia.

Public Relations Bureau