Adkasi Proposes Additional TKD to Strengthen Development in 410 Districts

The Chairman of the Association of Indonesian District Legislative Councils (Adkasi), Siswanto, has proposed an increase in Transfer to Regions (TKD) funds for district governments to strengthen development in 410 districts with low fiscal capacity. He conveyed the proposal considering the fiscal condition of regions after an average reduction in TKD of 24.7 per cent, with some areas even experiencing cuts in revenue-sharing funds of up to 70 per cent. According to him, strengthening TKD is necessary so that district governments have greater capacity to accelerate development and improve the quality of services to the public. “Most districts do not yet have sufficient locally generated revenue to finance all development needs. Therefore, TKD is a vital instrument in maintaining development continuity and equitable public services,” he said. He noted that when the fiscal gap is low, the budget available for regional development is also limited, while community needs continue to grow, ranging from infrastructure, health, and education to other public services. He stressed that strengthening TKD is not only about increasing the budget but is also part of efforts to enhance synergy between central and regional governments in achieving national development targets. In addition to TKD, Siswanto hopes the government will strengthen various sources of regional income through revenue-sharing funds, such as oil and gas revenue sharing, tobacco excise, plantations, and other sectors, as part of efforts to increase regional development capacity. “We hope that future budget policy discussions will pay attention to strengthening regional fiscal capacity, so that 410 districts with limited fiscal capacity can still accelerate development and improve the quality of public services,” he said.