DPR Reveals Military Training Costs Rp 30 Million Per Person for Kopdes Programme

A member of Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR), Tubagus Hasanuddin, has revealed that the budget allocated for the basic military training component in the training of prospective ‘Koperasi Desa Merah Putih’ (Red and White Village Cooperative) managers reaches tens of millions of rupiah per participant. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) legislator explained that the government allocates a budget of around Rp 5 million for each participant per week of training. With a programme duration of 45 days, or approximately nine weeks, the total training cost per person reaches about Rp 45 million. When broken down into the programme’s two components—military training and managerial training—the largest portion, around Rp 30 million, is used to fund the military training, which lasts 30 days. The remaining Rp 15 million is allocated for the 15-day managerial training. “Of that amount, around Rp 30 million is used for the implementation of military training, while Rp 15 million is for learning cooperative substance,” Hasanuddin said on Monday, 29 June 2026. The legislator, whose commission partners with the Ministry of Defence, stated that military training is not directly related to the competencies required by a cooperative manager. Therefore, removing this component would not only make the training more relevant but also result in significant budget savings. According to his calculations, if the military training component were eliminated, the state could save approximately Rp 30 million per participant. With the first batch comprising 35,476 participants, the potential budget savings could reach around Rp 1.06 trillion. Hasanuddin stressed that training for prospective cooperative managers should focus on improving competencies relevant to their roles as business and organisational managers, such as business governance, financial management, marketing, and community empowerment. “We need cooperative managers who have the ability to manage a business, understand financial governance, marketing, and community empowerment. Therefore, the training must be truly relevant to their job requirements,” he said. He also urged the government to evaluate the training design to make it more effective, efficient, and targeted. The government currently requires all prospective managers of the Koperasi Desa Merah Putih and Kampung Nelayan Merah Putih (Red and White Fishing Village) to participate in the Education and Training for Sarjana Penggerak Pembangunan Indonesia (SPPI). The first batch, running from 17 June to 31 July 2026, was attended by 35,476 participants, consisting of 30,000 prospective managers for Koperasi Desa Merah Putih and 5,476 for Kampung Nelayan Merah Putih. Previously, the Head of the Defence Information Bureau at the Ministry of Defence’s Secretariat General, Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, stated that the financing for the basic military training for tens of thousands of prospective cooperative managers uses the same budget standards as the education and training for the reserve component (Komcad). However, at the time, he declined to disclose the exact amount of funds used in the programme. “For financing, the discipline training uses the financing standards for Komcad education and training, which are managed in accordance with applicable regulations,” Rico said when confirmed on Saturday, 20 June 2026. Rico explained that the funding for the activity does not come solely from the Ministry of Defence. The Ministry of Cooperatives and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries are also involved in financing the programme according to their respective fields. According to him, the Ministry of Cooperatives finances the managerial training for prospective managers of the Koperasi Desa Merah Putih, while the managerial training for participants of the Kampung Nelayan Merah Putih is supported by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.