Ministry of Social Affairs Forms Special Team to Investigate 'Overpriced' Shoes for People's School

JAKARTA – Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf, or Gus Ipul, has given a special mandate to Deputy Social Affairs Minister Agus Jabo Priyono and Acting Inspector General of the Ministry of Social Affairs Dody Sukmono to compile all information regarding the procurement process for students’ shoes in the People’s School. The Ministry of Social Affairs is currently embroiled in an unpleasant issue regarding reports of that procurement. The Deputy Minister and the Inspector General of the Ministry of Social Affairs have been given until next week to report the results of their work to the Minister. In connection with this, Agus emphasised that he will not tolerate any form of deviation. “Because I have already committed that if there is any deviation, I and Mr Minister will take the first step to report it to the Law Enforcement Apparatus,” said Agus in his statement to the media on Thursday (7/5/2026). As a sign of seriousness, Agus explained that he, along with Gus Ipul and the Ministry of Social Affairs team, will meet with KPK leaders tomorrow (8/4). “Every step or programme that we carry out, we always consult and collaborate with other parties. So the plan is indeed tomorrow we will go to the KPK to seek advice and input so that in that procurement programme, it will not cause problems,” said Agus. Specifically regarding the issue of markup in the price of People’s School student shoes, Agus assured that it is not true. That polemic, he said, originated from a photo of Social Affairs Minister Gus Ipul with East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa giving shoes to People’s School students. That photo is a snippet of documentation from an event of dialogue with social pillars in Malang on 2 May 2025. Then the photo was narrated as shoes budgeted by the Ministry of Social Affairs at Rp700,000 per pair. In fact, those shoes were a donation from Governor Khofifah with different specifications and sourced from the East Java Provincial Budget. “But then in the budget allocation, the Ministry of Social Affairs’ planned budget for shoe procurement has a value of Rp700,000, what kind of shoe is that? It is PDL shoes which naturally have different specifications from daily shoes,” said Agus. Agus emphasised that the Rp700,000 price is the budget allocation (maximum limit) and not the actual purchase price. Agus explained that People’s School students each receive various types of shoes, namely PDL shoes, PDH shoes, sports shoes, and daily shoes. “Like the type of daily shoes, in the procurement process, it is budgeted at around Rp200,000 to Rp250,000,” said Agus.