Gus Ipul Holds Talks with Pasuruan Regent and PCNU on Social Data and Sekolah Rakyat

Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, also known as Gus Ipul, received an audience with Pasuruan Regent Rusdi Sutejo and Pasuruan PCNU chairman Imron Mutamakkin at the Ministry of Social Affairs’ office on Thursday, 5 March 2026. The meeting discussed strengthening three government priority programs: the updating of the National Single Social-Economic Data (DTSEN), the development of the Sekolah Rakyat, and the distribution of social assistance.

During the talks, Gus Ipul explained that these three programs form part of the government’s efforts to tackle ongoing social problems in the community.

‘Many people are actually struggling, but invisible because they are not in the data. There are pesantren students who struggle to pay operational costs, and there are also children who have never attended school,’ Gus Ipul said.

He added that the main challenge in poverty alleviation has been data accuracy. The government would have difficulty reaching those in need if they are not registered in the system.

‘How can the government reach them if the data does not exist?’ he said.

Gus Ipul explained that the government is now using DTSEN as the reference for various social assistance programs. However, the data must be continually updated because the socio-economic conditions of communities continually change.

He noted that updates to data have often been hampered by differences in systems and inter-agency sectoral ego, resulting in each region having its own data base.

‘Now we are moving towards one data, but it must be updated regularly,’ he said.

He also urged public participation in the data updating process, both through formal channels and via the SIKS-NG system and the Cek Bansos application.

Beyond data, the meeting also discussed developing Sekolah Rakyat as a strategy to break the poverty cycle through education. According to Gus Ipul, the programme functions not only as an educational institution but also as part of empowering poor families.

‘Sekolah Rakyat is expected to become a microcosm of the poverty alleviation programme,’ he said.

He gave the example of a child named Naila from a family in the bottom decile 1. After seven months in Sekolah Rakyat, her family’s situation began to improve.

‘Her house was repaired, her parents empowered. The child could study well and the family gradually moved up a class,’ he said.

He also stressed the importance of targeting social assistance accurately. He said social assistance is not only intended to ease a temporary burden but also to empower recipients to rise economically.

‘We want social assistance to be well targeted and to motivate beneficiaries to rise. Because its nature is indeed temporary,’ he added.

Pasuruan Regent Rusdi Sutejo welcomed the strengthening of the three programs. He said the Pasuruan Regency government is strengthening its social data updating system so that the assistance programmes can reach those truly in need.

‘To synchronise the data, we are building a command centre to monitor who is eligible to receive assistance and who is not,’ said Rusdi.

The audience was also attended by several regional officials, including Pasuruan District Health Office head Arma Rosallina, Pasuruan Social Service P3A head Ani Latifah, Pasuruan Bapperida Secretary Kokok Adi Prayogo, Rohani Siswanto, the Steering Team for Regional Development Acceleration, and Farid Syauqi, head of Pasuruan RSNU Foundation. (*)