Deputy Social Minister Explains Rp700,000 Shoe Budget: Merely a Ceiling Limit

Deputy Social Minister (Wamensos) Agus Jabo Priyono has spoken out regarding the controversy surrounding the Rp27 billion budget for People’s School shoes, which has recently come under public scrutiny due to suspicions of touching Rp700,000 per pair. Agus assured that the amount is not the purchase price, but merely a maximum budget limit or pagu. He also stated that the Rp700,000 shoes are not ordinary daily footwear, but field duty uniform (PDL) shoes with specific strength standards. “However, within the pagu, the Ministry of Social Affairs’ budget plan for shoe procurement includes some valued at Rp700 (thousand). What kind of shoes are these? They are PDL shoes. Of course, their specifications differ from daily shoes. There are many components there, many components that certainly differ from daily shoes,” Agus said during a CNN Indonesia TV broadcast on Thursday (7/5). Agus explained that the pagu value will still be adjusted to the real market price at the time the tender process takes place, with the principle of seeking the most efficient price without sacrificing quality. “That’s the pagu, that’s the pagu, not the real price. So later there will be a process of orientation, market orientation, what the current price is. Of course, at the time of the tender, the PPK will select companies or vendors that offer the cheapest price but do not deviate from the specifications,” Agus said. “So this has not been realised yet, this is just the pagu, just the budget plan,” he added. Regarding the shoes worn daily by students, Agus revealed that their price is much more affordable and reasonable. “And the type of shoe displayed, in the People’s School, is called daily shoes. Worn by People’s School students every day. Indeed, the price of daily shoes in the Ministry of Social Affairs’ procurement process is around Rp200,000,” he concluded. Furthermore, Agus detailed several specification components that make the PDL shoe pagu calculated higher. The shoes are specially designed with attention to comfort levels, material strength, neatness, and uniformity. “Because it considers comfort, material strength, model neatness, uniformity, including fitting,” Agus said. Although not mandating the use of genuine cow leather, material durability is an absolute requirement, plus special modifications in the form of the People’s School logo. “Oh no, no, we don’t specify that it must be made of that (genuine cow leather). The point is that the material must be strong, it must meet those standards. And then because this is custom, we also include the People’s School logo there,” Agus explained.