Government affirms BPJS Employment participants do not automatically lose social assistance
The BPJS Ketenagakerjaan programme provides protection for workers, not to eliminate social assistance.
Jakarta — The Indonesian government has clarified that participation in the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan programme does not automatically result in individuals losing their right to receive social assistance such as the Family Hope Programme (PKH), amid public concerns arising from the government’s ongoing social protection data synchronisation process.
Indah Anggoro Putri, Director General of Industrial Relations Development and Worker Social Security at the Ministry of Manpower, stated that worker participation in the employment social security scheme represents a form of social protection for workers, including informal workers who are vulnerable to occupational risks.
She emphasised that the programme is not intended to replace or eliminate social assistance provided by the government to poor and vulnerable communities.
“The BPJS Ketenagakerjaan programme provides protection for workers, not to eliminate social assistance,” Indah said on Thursday.
Similarly, Joko Widiarto, Head of the Data and Information Centre for Social Welfare at the Ministry of Social Affairs, explained that data synchronisation is being conducted to improve the targeting accuracy of social assistance programmes.
According to him, the Ministry of Social Affairs and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan have a cooperation agreement regarding data exchange and utilisation covering the 2023–2026 period.
“The Ministry of Social Affairs has a cooperation agreement with BPJS Ketenagakerjaan regarding data exchange and utilisation that has been in effect since 2023 until 2026,” said Joko.
DTSEN is an integration of three poverty-management data sources: DTKS, Economic and Social Registration (Regsosek), and the Extreme Poverty Acceleration Programme (P3KE) data, which are then matched with national population data.
In this system, the population is classified into 10 levels of welfare, or deciles, each representing approximately 10 per cent of Indonesia’s population.
Joko explained that PKH social assistance distribution is based on population groups in deciles 1 through 4 in DTSEN.
The regulations specify that an individual’s BPJS Ketenagakerjaan membership status is not included as a criterion that automatically makes a person ineligible to receive social assistance.
“Therefore, it does not automatically result in a person being excluded from social assistance as long as they remain in the appropriate decile,” said Joko.
He added that members of the public who believe they are entitled to but have not yet been registered as social assistance recipients may submit verification requests through their village or urban administration or the local district/city social services office.
Additionally, applications can be submitted independently through the Cek Bansos (Check Social Assistance) application operated by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Such applications will then undergo field verification by PKH facilitators or regional social services offices before being endorsed by the regional head and submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Currently, the national social assistance quota remains unchanged: PKH for approximately 10 million beneficiary families, basic food assistance for over 18.2 million families, and health insurance contribution assistance for approximately 96.8 million individuals.
Joko added that the Ministry of Social Affairs is continuing outreach activities to regional governments down to village and urban administration levels regarding the updating of social assistance recipient data.
The government urges the public not to readily believe unverified information about social assistance and to verify information through official government channels at cekbansos.kemensos.go.id.
Through this clarification, the government hopes the public will understand that social assistance and employment social security programmes are two social protection instruments designed to complement each other in protecting economically vulnerable populations.