JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The government will rely more on social assistance programs to reduce poverty and social inequality in the 2018 state budget.
The plan was presented by the Social Affairs Ministry, Culture and Education Ministry and Health Ministry during the Merdeka Barat Forum, a regular discussion held with the media, in Jakarta on Friday. The forum was organized by the Communications and Information Ministry.
From the budget allocations, the Social Affairs Ministry will promote the Family Hope Program (PKH), a family based poverty alleviation program, while the Culture and Education Ministry will helm the Indonesia Smart Program (KIP) and the Health Ministry will prioritize the National Health Insurance (JKN) program.
Director General of Social Security Protection at the Social Affairs Ministry, Harry Hikmat, said the allocation for social protection in the Draft 2018 State Budget was Rp 161.9 trillion, an increase of Rp 3.1 trillion from this year’s figure. The funds will be distributed by the Social Affairs Ministry and relevant ministries/institutions that have community empowerment programs. The Social Affairs Ministry alone would receive Rp 33.9 trillion in 2018.
Harry explained that the budget allocation for social assistance programs was raised because the number of participants of the Family Hope Program (PKH) had increased from 600,000 families to 10 million.
"PKH is the backbone of all social assistance programs because it is implemented in synergy with other central government programs such as the Smart Indonesia Program and Healthy Indonesia Program," Harry said.
The allocations for social protection and security programs totaled Rp 17.8 trillion, while those for the poor reached Rp 14.07 trillion.
For PKH, the budget allocations reach Rp 1.8 million per year. Funds are disbursed every three months through bank accounts of the PKH recipients. PKH, KIP, or the Indonesia Health Card (KIS) are used for food and school supplies.
Poverty rate
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of poor people reached 27.77 million people (10.64 percent) as of March 2017. Despite a slight fall from 28.01 million people (10.86 percent) as March 2016, the decline in the number of poor people did not meet the expectations (Kompas, 18/7).
According to Harry, PKH recipients are also included in various empowerment programs, such as a communal business program so that they will not consider themselves a charitable object. They are expected to improve their life standards through skills, work and education.
With these programs, the government ensures the poor will receive the benefits of social assistance. The reason is that local governments have yet to issue permanent rules related to social assistance. One of the concerns is the reduction, even the misappropriation of the social assistance budget if there is a replacement of the head of regions, either regent or mayor.
Focus
The secretary-general of the Culture and Education Ministry, Didik Suhardi, said that in 2018, he would focus on improving the quality of primary and secondary education (Dikdasmen). The total education budget for 2018 is projected at Rp 148 trillion. The funds will be divided into 20 ministries / institutions. The Culture and Education Ministry alone will get Rp 40 trillion. "The main program is to improve the quality of education by ensuring that KIP recipients in 2017 will continue their education in 2018. The target is 17.8 million students," said Didik.
Expert staff of the Health Ministry, Barlian, said the ministry would continue to focus on the JKN program. Partnerships with regions are essential to make the program more effective. Of the 514 districts / municipalities, only 15 regions have yet to implement the Regional Health Insurance (Jamkesda). The majority of regions have already have implemented Jamkesda with with varying standards.
(DNE)
