Warm and Full of Laughter, Minister of Social Affairs Met KPM PKH in Bali

TABANAN, BALI (November 17, 2019) - Minister of Social Affairs Republic of Indonesia, Juliari P. Batubara greeted and had a dialogue with mothers of beneficiary families (KPM) for the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) in Tabanan Regency, Bali Province, recently.

The atmosphere was full of warmth, close to no distance, and interspersed with the Social Affairs Minister's jokes, making social assistance recipients laugh throughout the event.

In the meeting that took place at the Mahatmiya Social Rehabilitation Center for People with Visual Sensory Disabilities (BRSPDSN) Mahatmiya, the Minister of Social Affairs met with 300 recipients of social assistance.

The minister started the meeting by inviting 10 recipients of social assistance to come to the front of the stage and asked one by one their knowledge of PKH and BPNT social assistance.

"Since when have you been a PKH social assistance recipient? Let me ask you an easy question, what does KPM stand for?" the Minister asked.

Instead of answering questions, the funny behavior of PKH recipients when asked by the Minister of Social Affairs actually churned the stomachs of all the participants who were present and watched.

Next, when the PKH KPM named Ibu Ayu was called to the stage, the laughter of the mothers burst out again.

"I want to ask what is the abbreviation BPNT?" asked Minister Ari. Instead, the mother smiled as she glanced at the stage backdrop, which was written as BPNT.

Instantly the Minister of Social Affairs and the audience laughed at the KPM PKH behavior. The questions were finally answered and every woman who came to the front of the stage received an electronic money prize in the form of BNI Tap Cash worth IDR 250 thousand.

In the next section, the Minister of Social Affairs also asks about the amount of social assistance received, then reviews the process of disbursement of social assistance, and has a dialogue with the recipients of social assistance who show off their business products that day.

"I want to bring a cheerful atmosphere when meeting the recipients of social assistance. With happy hearts, they indirectly become brave to tell stories about their families, about the social assistance they have received, and their understanding of the government program," said the Minister.

By asking KPM PKH directly, he continued, the Minister could directly find out the conditions in the field. At the same time also carry out the President's directive, namely ensuring social assistance is accepted by the people and its use for productive purposes.

For information, PKH and BPNT social assistance in 2019 distributed to the Province of Bali is worth IDR 439,900,550,000. Especially for PKH and BPNT stage IV social assistance in 2019, Tabanan District received IDR 24,575,715,000.

The realization of the distribution of PKH Phase IV and BPNT Social Assistances was 99% and the majority of KPM had disbursed their assistance.

Participants who attended the meeting with the Minister of Social Affairs were 300 social assistance recipients from Kediri District in Tabanan Regency, as well as PKH Facilitators, PKH APDs from Tabanan Regency.

In this meeting, KPM PKH graduated independently and PKH children with achievements in education and sports respectively were three people. As an appreciation for outstanding children, BNI Bank has prepared student savings each worth IDR 1,000,000.

The three outstanding children are Gusti Made Ady Darma Yasa who has an achievement in the field of bicycle sports, Ni Luh Ketut Putri Nila Kusuma has an achievement in the field of Pentangue at the Bali Provincial Level and Sopya Rachma Cyntia Dewi has an achievement in reading the Qur'an at the Bali Provincial Level.