BANTEN (June 12, 2020) - Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P Batubara distributed social assistance to the Shohibul Muslimin Islamic Boarding School that represented by Bachtiar Chamsyah in Shohibul Muslimin Islamic Boarding School in Serang, Banten.

Ministry of Social Affairs distributed 10,000 Sembako Social Assistance Packages per package containing 5 kg of rice, 2 liters of oil, 7 cans of sardines and 12 packs of instant noodles to 51 Islamic Boarding Schools in Banten Province.

"We, the Ministry of Social Affairs, as public servants, hope that we can provide prosperity to all nations and people of Indonesia regardless of race, ethnicity, and religion," explained the Minister.

The founder of Boarding School also added that we must all work together to realize the social welfare.

"Thank you very much Mr. Minister, even though in this difficult situation caused by Covid-19, government still continues to help people by providing this food packages," said Bachtiar Chamsyah.

Henceforth, this basic food assistance is given to the administrators and students who live in several boarding schools scattered in the province of Banten. This assistance is channeled to meet the needs of the students who cannot go home and decide to stay in the school to obey the government’s rule to not to go home during the Covid-19 period.

"During co-19 this learning activity is still as usual but my friends and I can't go home, we have to stay here, my parents also can't see me at the pesantren," said one of the Shohibul Muslimin Islamic Boarding School students.

The Ministry of Social Affairs tries to deliver social assistance to all levels of society and all people who need help, one of which is by ensuring that the needs of students in the boarding school can be fulfilled.

Shohibul Muslimin Islamic Boarding School which has been established since 2017 is a modern Islamic boarding school based on pesantren with 24-hour teaching with some programs, such as MTS, Vocational, Tahfidz Qur'an boarding, Da'i Education, Arabic and English.

As directed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia regarding the new order of life (new normal), the process of distribution of social assistance this time still follows the health protocol Covid-19. In fact, the invited guests were required to take a body temperature test and rapid test before entering the venue.

At the end of the activity, the Minister of Social Affairs gave an advice in front of the representatives of 51 Islamic Boarding School Leaders to continue to educate students so that the next generation of the nation could become leaders and bring the nation into a prosperous nation, a respected nation.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Director General of Social Empowerment, Deputy Regent of Serang, Banten Police Chief, Head of Banten Provincial Social Service, Head of Serang Regency Social Service, and Echelon II Official of the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs also attended the event.