Government Urged to Expedite Food Aid Distribution During Ramadan
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Chairman of Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Alex Indra Lukman, has urged the government to immediately distribute the Food Assistance Program (Bapang) in the form of rice and cooking oil for the February and March 2026 period to millions of beneficiaries during Ramadan or ahead of Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijri.
“The food assistance program is highly anticipated by 33.2 million families in Indonesia,” said Alex Indra Lukman in Jakarta, Thursday.
According to him, the provision of 20 kg of rice and four liters of cooking oil ahead of Eid al-Fitr 1447 H/20 will be very meaningful for millions of beneficiary families (KPM).
He said that currently, there are no obstacles in the stock of rice and cooking oil, and the supply is very adequate.
“We ask the government, in this case, the National Food Agency (Bapanas), to no longer delay the distribution of the Bapang for the February and March 2026 period,” he said.
In a meeting led by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, it was agreed that the distribution of Bapang rice and cooking oil would be carried out once for the allocation of two months, namely February and March 2026.
The number of Beneficiary Families (KPM) has been increased by targeting the first to fourth deciles of society, in line with the recipients of the Temporary Social Welfare Cash Assistance (BLTS Kesra) program.
“10 kg of rice and two liters of cooking oil per month will certainly be able to reduce price volatility during Ramadan, especially with Eid al-Fitr approaching,” he said.
He said that this food assistance is highly anticipated by prospective recipients and that beneficiary families should not be made to wait for the government’s promise for too long.
He added that Bulog, as the party tasked with distributing the aid, will release 664,800 tons of rice and 132,900 kiloliters of cooking oil. For the implementation of this pro-people program, the government has prepared a budget of IDR 11.92 trillion.
According to Alex, this Bapang is very important because it will be able to maintain the stability of basic food prices and control inflation. Furthermore, it will also help meet the needs of KPM during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr and maintain the purchasing power of the community at large.
For information, the Bapang program, which was implemented by Bapanas together with Bulog in 2025, was held in two stages. The first stage involved the allocation of June and July, with food assistance of 10 kg of rice per month to 18.2 million beneficiary families.
Furthermore, in the allocation for October and November, the government added a package of assistance with two liters of cooking oil with the same number of KPM each month.
At that time, it was mentioned that the food assistance program had an impact on the poverty rate, namely the percentage of poor people in March 2024, which was 9.03 percent. This decreased by 0.33 percent compared to March 2023 and decreased by 0.54 percentage points compared to September 2022.