House Commission VIII Approves Rp22.49 Trillion Budget Boost for Social Affairs Ministry
Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) has approved the Ministry of Social Affairs’ (Kemensos) proposal for an additional budget of Rp22.49 trillion for the 2027 fiscal year. The additional funds are considered essential to strengthen the implementation of various social protection programmes, including the operation of Sekolah Rakyat, one of the government’s priority programmes.
Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, known as Gus Ipul, stated that the proposal is rooted in three mandates of the 2025-2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN). ‘The proposal we submitted today is rooted in three RPJMN mandates that we must realise: reducing extreme poverty to below 0.5 per cent by 2026, lowering the national poverty rate to between 4.5 and 5 per cent by 2029, and graduating 1.5 million beneficiary families per year until 2029,’ Gus Ipul said during a working meeting with Commission VIII at the Nusantara Building, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Gus Ipul explained that the ministry’s indicative budget ceiling for 2027 of Rp84.71 trillion is technically insufficient to fulfil all the RPJMN mandates. ‘There is a clear gap between what is mandated and what we can achieve with the current ceiling,’ said Gus Ipul, who was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Agus Jabo Priyono.
He outlined several examples of the shortfall between programme needs and available funding. For the Socio-Economic Empowerment Programme, for instance, the existing budget can only finance around 10,000 families, whereas the RPJMN target requires approximately 390,000 beneficiaries annually. Meanwhile, the Sekolah Rakyat budget ceiling of Rp4.9 trillion faces a shortfall of Rp3.64 trillion to finance more than 100,000 students attending school in 2027. ‘This is a direct mandate of Presidential Regulation 120 of 2025, which is currently underway and showing progress that deserves to be noted as part of the early journey of the Sekolah Rakyat implementation,’ he stated.
Furthermore, services for the elderly and single persons with disabilities have not yet been allocated within the indicative ceiling, raising concerns that 1.46 million impoverished elderly and single disabled individuals will not receive sustainable direct assistance. ‘The total gap we are proposing to be filled is Rp22,488,964,541,000, or Rp22.49 trillion. If approved, the total budget for the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2027 will become Rp107.20 trillion,’ he said.
Closing the meeting, Chair of Commission VIII Marwan Dasopang confirmed that the commission approved the ministry’s proposed additional budget for 2027. ‘The DPR can approve the indicative budget ceiling for 2027 and the proposed additional budget for 2027 from the Ministry of Social Affairs,’ Marwan stated.
The meeting was also attended by Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Arifatul Choiri Fauzi, Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf, Head of the National Disaster Management Agency Suharyanto, Head of the Halal Product Assurance Agency Ahmad Haikal Hasan, the Deputy Chair and members of Commission VIII, as well as senior officials from the relevant ministries and agencies.