Jakarta, Jan 26 (Antara) - The government's Cashless Food Aid (BPNT) and Social Rice Assistance (Rastra) program should be strengthened and managed optimally to ensure that the intended beneficiary families are covered and poverty in Indonesia is reduced.
The government has set a target to provide BPNT and Rastra assistance to some 15.4 million underprivileged beneficiary families in 2018 in its efforts to lower the poverty rate to a single digit as compared to 10.64 percent, or 27.7 million, of the nation's population in 2017.
Regional government secretaries play an important role in ensuring that assistance under the program reaches the intended beneficiary families.
Head of the National Development Planning Agency Bambang Brojonegoro stated that the BPNT program needs to be strengthened to speed up the realization of its target, thereby accelerating the reduction of poverty to a single digit.
"This BPNT (program) is the spearhead of the efforts to reduce poverty. The other forms of social assistance -- Health Indonesia Card (KIS) and the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) -- have been relatively well on target. The one that is not yet on target is Rastra. Hence, the key to reach a single-digit target is to strengthen the assistance through BPNT to reach out to the intended recipients," Brojonegoro had noted during a press conference in Jakarta on (Jan 9).
KIS cards are offered under the government's free health service program for underprivileged families, while KIP cards provide education assistance to children of poor families to pursue studies up to the secondary school level.
The government is targeting to provide BPNT and Rastra assistance to some 15.4 million beneficiary families this year.
In 2017, the government had provided BPNT assistance to 1.2 million recipients, and this year it will expand it to cover 10 million beneficiaries in five phases in 217 districts or cities.
According to Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, regional secretaries are responsible for ensuring the successful distribution of the BPNT and social Rastra assistance.
"We want to ensure that the social assistance (Bansos), readied using the budget, is distributed on time on the 25th of every month. I think regional government secretaries are responsible for it," Kumolo had remarked after opening a Bansos Food 2018 Coordination Meeting in Jakarta early this month.
Furthermore, he pointed out that the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social Affairs should cooperate to make the government program a success. To this end, he insisted that regional secretaries should ensure that people entitled to receive bansos should not be deprived of their rights.
According to Kumolo, if regional secretaries are successful in guarding the bansos, then their achievements will certainly be lauded. However, adverse sanctions will be imposed, if they are not successful in implementing the programs that have run well since the last three years.
"We will create opportunities for successful regional secretaries. We might reward their achievements by offering an echelon I position at the Ministry of Home Affairs, for instance, or it can be in the Ministry of Social Affairs. Ensuring three years of successful government programs is better," he stated.
The BPNT is being provided to 1.2 million beneficiary families in January this year, and the government has begun expanding the assistance in stages to reach some 10 million recipients by the year-end.
According to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution, the Indonesian government is planning to increase the number of beneficiary families of BPNT by 2.6 million to 3.8 million in February, from 1.2 million in January.
"The number will be increased if the distribution of BPNT to 1.2 million beneficiary families in January could be realized soon," Nasution had noted after a coordination meeting in Jakarta last week (Jan 16).
"The president has called on the relevant agencies to first complete the distribution of BPNT to 1.2 million beneficiary families. The number could thereafter be increased. We have just discussed a plan to increase the number in February," he noted.
The BPNT for January 2018 will be distributed on Jan 25. The government will later evaluate the distribution of BPNT to ensure that it reaches the 1.2 million beneficiary families.
"If it has been completed, we will increase the number by 2.6 million, and we have made preparations for it from now on. However, the number will be raised if the 1.2 million beneficiary families have received BPNT," he noted.
The government aims to reach out to 10 million beneficiary families of BPNT by the end of this year.
"The number will be increased every two months until it reaches 10 million by the end of this year," he revealed.
According to former social affairs minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, the government has made assurance that the beneficiary families will receive food social assistance both for BPNT and Rastra on the 25th of each month.
"We want to ensure that on the 25th of every month, the beneficiary families will receive food assistance," Parawansa noted.
The expansion of BPNT to cover 10 million recipients is divided into five stages, with 1.2 million beneficiaries to receive BPNT in January 2018 and 14.2 million others to be provided Rastra assistance in the first stage.
In the second phase, a total of 3.9 million recipients will receive BPNT and 11.5 million others to be offered Rastra assistance. In the third stage, 7.2 million families will be given BPNT and 8.2 million beneficiaries will receive Rastra.
The fourth phase of BPNT will cover 9.1 million families and Rastra assistance will be provided to 6.3 million recipients, while the fifth phase of the BPNT will reach 10.08 million families and 5.4 million beneficiary families will receive Rastra.
Every month, the beneficiaries will receive Rp110 thousand that can be exchanged for rice and eggs at electronic shops (E-Warongs).
To facilitate the smooth distribution of BPNT, at least 75,529 E-Warongs will be readied in stages.
E-Warong is a Bansos shopping place that is an agent for members of Himbara, or an association of state-owned banks or community stalls, that have sold basic food items.
***4*** (A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 26-01-2018 16:37:3 |
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