Mistargeted Social Assistance in Spotlight, Government Tests 'Data Toll Road' in Sleman

The problem of social assistance (bansos) that is not on target has prompted the government to make improvements through a digital system. Sleman Regency has become one of the national pilot areas for testing the Digital Social Protection Portal (Perlinsos Digital), which is designed to accelerate and tighten the verification process for aid recipients.

Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs (Menkomdigi) Meutya Hafid directly inspected the Perlinsos Digital trial in Sleman on Thursday (13/8/2026). The system relies on inter-agency data integration through infrastructure analogised as a ‘data toll road’.

Meutya said digitalisation is part of President Prabowo Subianto’s initiative to address public complaints about the mistargeting of social assistance. Through the new system, residents who genuinely meet the criteria are expected to receive assistance in full, while residents who no longer meet the criteria will no longer receive government aid.

‘As Deputy Chair of the Committee in this national strategic programme, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs plays an important role in providing and managing the ’data toll road’ infrastructure network,’ Meutya said on Thursday (13/8/2026).

She explained that verification of beneficiaries is carried out automatically based on the Population Identification Number (NIK) and economic decile. With this mechanism, the government seeks to reduce manual intervention, which is considered to open loopholes for corrupt, collusive and nepotistic practices (KKN). Nevertheless, village heads and village officials remain involved in carrying out supervision in the field.

In the Sleman trial, the process of registering and matching residents’ data is claimed to take around five minutes. This is far shorter than conventional administrative processes, which can take hours or even days.

‘This network is tasked with flowing, matching and verifying population data between agencies instantly and securely,’ she said.