Minister Yandri Requests Village Assistants to Act as Social Protection Agents
The Minister of Villages and Disadvantaged Regions (Mendes PDT), Yandri Susanto, stated that the Ministry is prepared to provide full support to ensure the success of social protection (Perlinsos) programmes for the community.
To achieve this, the Ministry will involve 25,380 village assistants spread across 37 provinces to act as social protection agents. They are expected to assist the public in registering for or updating data for social assistance.
The Ministry of Villages and Disadvantaged Regions will serve as a provider of supporting data to strengthen targeting, intervention design, and the effectiveness of village-based poverty alleviation programmes.
“We do have village assistants, with almost 26,000 currently active across Indonesia. Their function is highly relevant to what we are discussing today,” Yandri stated in a briefing on Wednesday (30/09/2026).
He made these remarks while attending a ministerial-level meeting regarding the expansion of social protection and implementation plans for 2027, held at the Ministry of Social Affairs building in Jakarta.
Furthermore, Yandri outlined at least six strategic roles for village assistants in supporting social protection, including facilitating the identification of vulnerable populations, strengthening the accuracy of social data, educating the public on social protection programmes, facilitating access to social services, strengthening participatory oversight, and enhancing community economic empowerment.
The expansion of social protection is a national priority aimed at reducing poverty and community vulnerability more rapidly and precisely. The availability of accurate and up-to-date data will be crucial to ensuring that social protection programmes are targeted, inclusive, and sustainable.
“In essence, we are ready to move and will immediately undertake the necessary technical steps. We fully support and will move swiftly towards the expansion of social protection,” said the former Deputy Speaker of the MPR RI.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, stated that the expansion of social protection is an effort to foster a sense of justice and togetherness among the Indonesian people.
Consequently, he called upon all parties, including Ministries, Agencies, the TNI (National Armed Forces), and the Polri (National Police), to unite in ensuring the success of this expansion. All parties are expected to act as agents for the expansion of social protection, conducting data collection through the end of 2026, so that by 2027, social assistance can be accurately targeted.
“All Ministries, Agencies, the TNI, and the Polri must work in unison. This will foster a sense of justice and togetherness in this Republic. We must set aside differences and concentrate on this. This is a cornerstone of President Prabowo’s government; it will be a major success for this administration if we can execute this,” Luhut remarked.
Also present at the ministerial meeting were the Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar; the Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian; the Minister of State Apparatus Utilization and Bureaucratic Reform, Rini Widyantini; the Minister of Communication and Digital, Meutya Hafid; the Minister of Religious Affairs, Nasaruddin Umar; and various heads of relevant agencies.