A beggar sleeps on the terrace of Al Falah Grand Mosque, also known as the Thousand Pillars Mosque, in Jambi city, Jambi province, on Friday (3/3). Beggars flock to the Al Falah Grand Mosque at prayer time, particularly Friday prayers. Their growing number indicates that poverty is rampant in Jambi.
One of the prominent issues of the 2018 State Budget Draft (RAPBN) is the substantial increase in social expenditures to settle poverty and inequality.
The two-fold increase in budget allocation for social aid and subsidies is also accompanied by an expansion of program coverage by raising the number of recipients in order to reduce poverty. Up to 40 percent of the poorest people have become the target of the government\'s affirmative policy. The ultimate target: reducing the number of poor people, decreasing unemployment figures, boost economic equality and raising the Human Development Index.
Overall, the bigger budget demonstrates that the government is serious in handling the issues effecting Indonesia’s economy, poverty and inequality. Amid fiscal pressure, the government apparently does not want the state budget to lose its power through the stimulus function, and at the same time, as an instrument for equal distribution and justice.
The budget, which is more equitable, shows the commitment to correct social distortion. We all agree that not one of our brothers should be left behind and marginalized with regards to development. It’s not a coincidence that reducing poverty and inequality are facets in which the government has not made significant progress.
Over the last several years, the poverty rate has remained unchanged, while inequality has widened. Many programs and breakthroughs have been launched by the government, but they have not been able to substantially push down the rate of poverty and inequality.
The figures — 27.7 million poor people (10.64 percent of the total population) and 40 percent of the population susceptible to poverty — are not small. Our challenges are formidable, because after 72 years of independence, nearly a third of the total population, even more if measured with international poverty standards, have not enjoyed the benefits of independence.
In order to answer the crucial problem, raising the social budget and expanding its coverage has become a necessity. However, no less important is to optimize and increase its effectiveness, including by continuously improving the designs of the program, mechanism and implementation.
We also appreciate the government\'s step to offset the social aid program and subsidies that are charitable in nature with programs for empowerment. The agrarian reform program constitutes a very strategic step in realigning ownership of productive assets. Breakthroughs need to be made so that the benefits of its implementation in the fields can immediately be felt.
Various breakthroughs to open jobs as widely as possible and opening access to basic services also need to be intensified. Reviving the labor-intensive programs to improve Indonesia’s basic infrastructure is one of them. With the various breakthroughs and development, which are carried out by the government, we hope for high economic growth that is sustainable and inclusive; we hope the fight against poverty and inequality can be realized.
