Luhut invites public to become digital social protection agents
The agents are for registration. If I want to register, you can use face recognition to determine whether I am qualified to receive social assistance (bansos).
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has invited the public to become Social Protection Agents (Perlinsos) to assist citizens with registration and the improvement of digital social assistance recipient data.
During a press conference at the DEN Office in Jakarta on Thursday, Luhut explained that Social Protection Agents are not tasked with distributing aid or determining an individual’s eligibility as a recipient.
According to him, agents can assist in the registration process for citizens, including data collection through facial recognition technology. This data will then enter the government system for the verification process.
“The agents are for registration. If I want to register, you can use face recognition to see whether I am qualified or not to receive (social assistance),” said Luhut.
The Chairman of the Government Digital Transformation Acceleration Committee (KPTDP) opened up wide opportunities for public participation, including regional officials and civil servants (ASN).
Registration to become a Social Protection Agent can be easily accessed through the official portal at https://agent-perlinsos.kemensos.go.id.
Luhut stated that the Social Protection system is targeted for a national launch in the third week of October 2026. The government is currently conducting data refinement and testing system readiness before a wider implementation.
“We have designed it so that by the third week of October, we will be able to roll it out. I hope that by the time President (Prabito Subianto) rolls it out in October, there will be almost no serious problems,” said Luhut.
The system has been under development for approximately one year, with an initial pilot project in Banyuwangi, East Java. So far, the digital social protection data collection system is reported to have reached 215 regencies/cities.
According to Luhut, the system will address the issue of errors in social assistance distribution, where eligible citizens are frequently excluded from the recipient list.
“The poorest 50 percent of the population will certainly be provided for,” he added.
Once data collection is complete, the digital social protection system is planned to be integrated with the bank accounts of aid recipients. Luhut targets the trial of digital social assistance distribution via bank accounts to begin in the first quarter of 2027.
“We will trial the distribution in the first quarter of next year. Therefore, this year we are completing all this data to ensure better order. Because so far, about 50 percent has actually been off-target,” he further explained.