Commission X of the Indonesian Parliament to Summon Director of LPDP Soon
Deputy Chairman of Commission X of the Indonesian Parliament, Lalu Hadrian Irfani, stated that he will summon the Director of the LPDP, Sudarto, in the near future regarding the viral online discussion about LPDP alumni who created content suggesting that the scholarship is only for Indonesian citizens, not their children.
“Before Eid, we will invite the Director of LPDP to Commission X,” he said, quoted from YouTube metrotvnews.
Furthermore, he said that he had met with Sudarto regarding the LPDP scholarship mechanism. In the meeting, Irfani explained that Sudarto had revealed the rules related to the LPDP program.
However, Sudarto admitted that the rules for LPDP scholarship recipients have not been widely socialized.
“Some time ago, I met with the Director of LPDP. In principle, they already have rules. But the problem is that these rules have not been well socialized,” he said.
Lalu Hadrian also revealed that the total number of LPDP scholarship recipients to date has reached 55,641 people.
Regarding this data, he wants the LPDP to be transparent about the backgrounds of its recipients, whether they come from disadvantaged groups, reside in underdeveloped, remote, and outermost regions (3T), and are graduates of Islamic boarding schools (ponpes).
He emphasized that he does not want the scholarship recipients to come only from certain groups such as artists or children of officials.
Lalu Hadrian emphasized that the lack of transparency from LPDP regarding the background of scholarship recipients has become a public concern.
“The question is, where do these 55,641 (LPDP scholarship recipients) come from? Are there people from disadvantaged backgrounds, have those from the 3T regions been accommodated, are there alumni from Islamic boarding schools or other religious schools?”
“I want LPDP to be transparent and open this to the public so that people don’t think that LPDP is only for certain groups. Because what went viral was that LPDP recipients were artists and children of officials,” said Lalu Hadiran.
He also acknowledged that Indonesia does not yet have an ecosystem to accommodate LPDP scholarship recipients.
Therefore, he asked the government to map out the needs in the country in the future.
“Ideally, before sending (LPDP scholarship recipients abroad), we should first look at what the needs are in the country, such as industry, government, and so on,” he explained.
“We have many young talents who are still being ignored by the country because we don’t have the right ecosystem,” Lalu Hadrian concluded.