JAKARTA (8 March 2024) - Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini looked happy when she announced that 7,221 Beneficiary Families (KPM) had graduated from the social assistance program at the Graduation for Beneficiaries of Nusantara Economic Hero (PENA) on Friday (8/3). In February, 3,449 KPM successfully graduated.

“Today, we graduate beneficiaries. In February, they (KPM) came out of the social assistance recipients, as many as 3,449 KPM. Last January there were 3,772 KPM. The total is 7,221 KPM," said Social Affairs Minister Risma.

The Minister revealed that this year's graduation target is quite large, namely 100,000 KPM. Therefore, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) continues to pursue this target by trying various things to empower beneficiaries and increase the selling value of their products. By increasing the selling value, it is hoped that beneficiaries can earn more than the Regency/City Minimum Wage (UMK) and become eligible for social assistance graduation.

The Tata Rupa Nusantara program is one of the initiatives aimed at increasing sales value. Tata Rupa Nusantara assists KPM in packaging their products more elegantly and hygienically, as well as with more appealing branding. This neater packaging can considerably boost the product's sales value. MoSA is not alone in executing the Tata Rupa program. Many students from various universities are participating for free and are eager to assist beneficiaries.

On this occasion, the Minister presented honors to students and colleagues who honestly devote themselves to assisting society. Among the participants were students from the LSPR Communication and Business Institute, LP3I Polytechnic, Raffles College, Esa Unggul University, Kalbis University, Paramadina University, Pelita Harapan University, and Persada Indonesia YAI University.

However, packaging and branding are not the only factors to consider in graduation attempts. The Minister stressed that the main thing that beneficiaries must possess is determination and the will to improve. The Minister used the example of Temanggung beneficiaries to demonstrate the beneficiaries' great resolve to improve their life. Given Temanggung's population of roughly 800,000 people, the number of KPM graduates should be rather low. However, during the February graduation, the number of KPM graduates from Temanggung outnumbered those from other areas.

"Temanggung supposedly has fewer graduates than Jakarta due to its smaller population. But why is Temanggung bigger? That's because of the desire to graduate, the drive to move on, and the will to liberate oneself so as not to rely on anyone," stated the Minister, praising the beneficiaries' steadfast will to be self-sufficient.

The Minister also reminded beneficiaries who successfully graduated to remain disciplined in managing their finances. The Minister often finds cases where KPM's business finances and household finances are still mixed so that they do not know their economic growth and cannot develop their business. For this reason, MoSA continues to carry out various kinds of financial literacy training for beneficiaries so that they can apply simple bookkeeping for their businesses.