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Optimism is the Way Out of the Pandemic Crisis

Optimism is the Way Out of the Pandemic Crisis
Writer :
Biro Humas
Translator :
Nia Annisa

JAKARTA (19 October 2020) - Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P Batubara emphasized that optimism is the requisite for Indonesia to escape from the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The Minister hopes that all parties work together to build mutual optimism. “Great nations have experienced destruction before progressing. There is no nation that has been big from the start, "he said (19/10/2020)

According to Social Minister Juliari, this is due to the hard work of all levels of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Budget performance continues to increase as indicated by high budget realization. As of 19 October, from a ceiling of Rp134,008,919,106,000, Rp110,285,014,760,530 (82.30%) had been realized, or the highest of all ministries/institutions.

The Ministry of Social Affairs is also one of the busiest ministries in the midst of this pandemic. The Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for IDR 134.008 trillion budget for tens of millions of beneficiaries or KPM. However, Social Minister Juliari emphasized that in this pandemic the Ministry of Social Affairs would still continue to focus on reducing the stunting rate.

Social Minister Juliari said that in accelerating stunting reduction, access to health services for pregnant women and toddlers must be ensured to continue regardless the pandemic.

"President Joko Widodo instructed the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health as the leading sector in handling stunting," he said.

The Ministry of Social Affairs already has two programs that have been running so far, namely PKH (Family Hope Program) and the BPNT/Sembako Program. The two programs cover very large targets and are effective in supporting the handling of stunting problems. The two programs also have components that are directly related to the health agenda.

For example, four out of seven components in PKH are health-related, namely pregnant women, toddlers, elderly, and people with disabilities. The remaining 3 components are related to education. The Sembako Program/BPNT had increased its index value from IDR 110,000/KPM/month to IDR 150,000/KPM/month and later during the pandemic of Covid-19, it has increased again to IDR 200 thousand/KPM/month.

In line with the increasing index, there are also additional types of commodities in Sembako Program/BPNT. Initially, the assistance consists of only rice and eggs. Now, the KPM can also buy meat, fish, chicken, and beans.

Bureau of Public Relations 
Ministry of Social Affairs
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