Public responses and criticisms regarding decile data, which\ncategorises society into ten levels of welfare, serve as a reminder of\nthe vital importance of verified data. These critiques, in turn, assist\nthe government in formulating more measurable policies regarding state\nexpenditure for social assistance (Bansos) programmes and various other\nsubsidies, ensuring distribution is precisely targeted.<\/p>\n
As is widely known, the public has been monitoring deciles through\nthe National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN). The latest DTSEN basis,\nas of 3 July 2026, records a population of 290.13 million people and\n95.98 million families in Indonesia. DTSEN is an accumulation and\nsynchronisation of social and economic data integrated from various\nministries and agencies, such as the Integrated Social Welfare Data\n(DTKS), the P3KE data (Targeting the Acceleration of Extreme Poverty\nEradification), and Regsosek (Socio-Economic Registration), including\ncivil administration data (Dukcapil).<\/p>\n
Using this DTSEN, deciles are created to group the population into\nten welfare levels based on 39 variables covering social, economic,\nhealth, education, and housing aspects. The determination of these\ndeciles is not performed by village, sub-district, regency, or\nprovincial officials, but rather by the Central Bureau of Statistics\n(BPS).<\/p>\n
Decile 1 represents families with the lowest welfare level or the\nvery poor; decile 2 represents the poor category; decile 3 represents\nthe near-poor group; decile 4 represents the vulnerable-to-poverty\ngroup, and so on, up to decile 10, which represents families with the\nhighest welfare level or the very wealthy.<\/p>\n
Deciles and all associated data serve as a reference for the\ngovernment to design and establish policies for social assistance\nspending and various other subsidies, such as education subsidies or\naffirmative pathways for school and university admissions. Through\ndeciles, the government also intends to limit access to energy or fuel\nsubsidies for the affluent in deculations 9 and 10.<\/p>\n
Citizens in various regions began monitoring the DTSEN and decile\ndetails in early August 2026 via the Ministry of Social Affairs\n(Kemensos) website. Shortly thereafter, responses and criticisms began\nto emerge in the public sphere via social media platforms. Many\nresidents complained that the decile data, or the profile and economic\ncondition descriptions, did not align with the current facts of their\nlives.<\/p>\n
The Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (ORI) has even received\nnumerous complaints from the public regarding discrepancies in decile\ndata. Ombudsman representatives in various regions, such as Gorontalo,\nSurabaya, and Bangka Belitung, immediately followed up on these\ncomplaints with suggestions for the necessity of field verification. The\nRegional House of Representatives (DPRD) of the Special Region of\nYogyakarta (DIY) also received thousands of public complaints from\ncitizens worried that assistance through the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP)\nmight be revoked following the decile changes. The DIY DPRD has\nrequested that the local Social Services (Dinsos) at both the regional\nand regency levels collect direct data from citizens experiencing decile\nchanges.<\/p>\n
Examples of data discrepancies in the deciles are numerous and\nvaried. For instance, Timbul (49), a rickshaw driver from Ngentakrejo\nVillage, Lendah, Kulon Progo, is anxious after seeing his profile moved\nto decile 9 after his child was accepted into university, whereas a\nvillage head is placed in decile 8. Previously, Timbul was in decile 1.\nTimbul\u2019s position in decile 9 will impact his access to assistance\nprogrammes, including educational costs for his child.<\/p>\n
Amad\u2019s experience is equally unique. A resident of Mantrijeron,\nYogyakarta City, who works irregular manual jobs, was surprised to find\nhis decile position fluctuating rapidly. Initially, Amad was in decile\n4. After the recent economic census, he moved to decile 6. A few days\nlater, he was placed in decile 9. Similarly, Anif Ashar (47), a street\nfood vendor and Quran teacher from Malang Regency, East Java, who earns\nless than Rp 1 million, was confused to see his profile placed in decile\n9.<\/p>\n
Diandra Fristi also had a notable experience. A third-semester\nstudent of Primary School Teacher Education at the University of Negeri\nSurabaya (Unesa) was once threatened with being unable to continue her\nstudies. Coming from an underprivileged family, Diandra applied for the\n\u2018Be Smart\u2019 scholarship through an application opened by the Surabaya\nCity Government. Her application was rejected by the system because she\nwas identified as not belonging to a poor or underprivileged family.<\/p>\n
On her scholarship website, it was stated that Diandra\u2019s family was\nin decile 7 and owned three cars, whereas on the Ministry of Social\nAffairs website, her family was in decile 2. Her father works as a water\ngallon delivery man, and her mother is unemployed; furthermore, the\nfamily does not even own a motorcycle. Diandra\u2019s experience went viral\non social media, with many citizens admitting to similar anxieties\nregarding decile data that does not match their economic reality.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the government has been responsive to these criticisms\nand objections. The government has provided opportunities for every\ncitizen to submit corrections to their decile profiles. The decile\nmethodology itself is not inherently flawed. However, when the results\nof applying that methodology do not align with field facts, the\nimmediate question is the quality of the data.<\/p>\n
Social, economic, and health aspects of the population, including\neducation and housing, are always changing alongside life\u2019s dynamics.\nConsequently, the various data points used as references for deciles are\ndynamic and have the potential to change. A family that originally lived\nin a rented house always has the opportunity to live in their own home\nwhen they are able to pay a down payment and instalments months later.\nConversely, there are families who are forced to delay a child\u2019s\neducation due to a lack of funds.<\/p>\n
Thus, administrative data does not always reflect the reality\u2026<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ensuring-decile-data-accuracy-for-targeted-social-assistance-1788267643", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }