Ombudsman Appreciates Quality of Public Services at Ministry of Social Affairs

We extend our congratulations to Minister Gus and his team, as in our assessment over the past five years, this ministry is one of the most proactive government agencies, and it leads in implementing all of our recommendations, particularly actions to improve services, in our view,” stated Ombudsman RI member Maneger Nasution in his remarks on Tuesday (5/5/2026). This was said following a meeting on enhancing public service quality at the Kemensos office. The visit is part of efforts to assess the implementation of previously provided suggestions and inputs, especially regarding the organisation of the People’s School. Maneger explained that in the Ombudsman’s 2025 assessment, Kemensos scored 87.27, falling into the ‘Good’ category for service quality with a high-quality opinion. “If this were at university, 87 would be just below compliance. So maintaining it, especially with his commitment to raise it further, is extraordinary,” he said. Meanwhile, Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf (Gus Ipul) welcomed his team’s achievement positively. He emphasised that all Ombudsman recommendations have been followed up to strengthen service quality. “Every recommendation from the Ombudsman is followed up by creating regulations or revising existing ones within the Ministry of Social Affairs to improve services to the public. Secondly, to prevent deviations, abuse of authority, including corruption prevention,” he explained. Gus Ipul added that from these follow-ups, service performance continues to improve. “Not perfect yet, but steadily rising,” he said. Furthermore, Gus Ipul detailed that there are seven main improvement suggestions from the Ombudsman regarding the People’s School organisation, which have been addressed. This includes strengthening legal foundations, standardising services, institutional reinforcement, and developing an LMS (Learning Management System) and DTSEN-based monitoring system. “These are the suggestions and improvements from the Ombudsman last year that we have worked on. There are seven points. We have followed them all up, although not all 100 percent, but we have acted on them,” he stated. Strengthening Social Services System Cooperation In this meeting, the Ombudsman and Kemensos agreed to continue strengthening cooperation, including through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU). “Therefore, we agreed to follow up on this programme, and in the near future, we will also make an MoU with the Ministry of Social Affairs. Alhamdulillah, as mentioned by the Minister, even without an MoU so far, we have had extraordinary cooperation that is very positive,” Maneger explained. Gus Ipul also emphasised that this cooperation will strengthen the social services system going forward. “In the future, we will follow up this cooperation by making an MoU and also creating a roadmap for how services within the Ministry of Social Affairs, and certainly with the regions, can align,” he asserted. The MoU is projected to facilitate synergy in task implementation, particularly in resolving public reports and preventing maladministration. This cooperation also strengthens oversight of the National Strategic Programme (PSN) People’s School, which is a priority of the Prabowo Subianto administration. For information, attendees included Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Agus Jabo Priyono, Secretary General Robben Rico, and Acting Inspector General Dody Sukmono.