JAKARTA (1 JULY 2021) - Along with the implementation of the Emergency Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) which will impact several sectors, Social Minister Tri Rismaharini said that Ministry of Social Affairs would distribute Cash Social Aid (BST).

"BST will be distributed on May and June, after previously stopping in April. We hope we can distribute it on this week or next week," said the Social Minister in Jakarta, Thursday (1/7/2021).

The aid amounts IDR 300 thousand per month and will be distributed to beneficiaries at the beginning of each month, while aid for May and June as much as IDR 600 thousand will be given at once.

"The beneficiaries will receive IDR 600 thousand at a time. I ask the beneficiaries to use it to meet basic needs," asked the Social Minister.

For the monthly distribution target, BST targets 10 million beneficiaries, 18.8 million Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) beneficiaries, and 10 million Family Hope Program (PKH) beneficiaries.

"The data on social assistance recipients was cleared yesterday, but there were 3.6 million stuck in the bank system. This problem has been cleared in the meeting," said the Social Minister.

A number of data were stuck because the name listed in the data bank is not exactly the same as the data belonging to the Ministry of Social Affairs which have been matched with the Population Identification Number (NIK).

"At the bank, the name must be at least 3 letters and not in the form of numbers. There are names consisting of only two letters or containing numbers such as 'IT', NA70. However other kind of minor errors can still be coordinated," explained the Social Minister.

The technical distribution of BST is through the post office, while for BPNT and PKH will be distributed through the State Banks (Himbara) network.

"So, hopefully this can be realized at the latest in the second week of this month and we will try to distribute all to the residents," explained the Social Minister.

This aid does not interfere with the budget from the Ministry of Social Affairs. There is an additional budget from the Government for two months in May and June of IDR 2.3 trillion.

"Actually, there is an additional IDR 6 trillion for two months distribution, but we still have spare money of IDR 3 trillion," she said.

Efforts to accelerate this assistance are also balanced by the supervision of the use of social aid funds carried out from the beneficiaries' receipts to know how the beneficiaries spend their aid. Cash Social Aid is not allowed to be used for other than basic needs. 

"Evaluation of the use of the social aid money can be seen from the receipts, whether the aid is used for basic necessities or other goods," she concluded.

Public Relations Bureau
Ministry of Social Affairs