Pekalongan City Government Records 11,090 PKH Beneficiary Families in Decile 1-4 Category

The Pekalongan City Government in Central Java has recorded 11,090 Beneficiary Families (KPM) of the Family Hope Programme (PKH) as falling into the decile 1 to decile 4 category, a group representing those with the lowest economic welfare to those vulnerable to poverty, thus making them the main priority for receiving various social assistance programmes. Secretary of the Social, Population Control, and Family Planning Agency (Dinsos-P2KB) of Pekalongan City, Nur Agustina, stated on Sunday that her office is encouraging PKH beneficiary families who are already considered financially capable to undertake voluntary graduation. “We encourage people who already feel capable or are in a decile above 4 to apply for voluntary graduation,” she said. According to her, this effort is being made to foster community self-reliance while providing an opportunity for other citizens who are more in need to obtain social assistance. Nur Agustina explained that the amount of PKH assistance this year remains the same as the previous year and is disbursed directly to the accounts of recipients who meet criteria such as having school-age children, being pregnant, or having family members with disabilities. “Therefore, we ask that people whose economic conditions have improved are expected to voluntarily withdraw from PKH membership so that the assistance can be transferred to citizens whose conditions are more in need,” she said. She added that as an effort to support economic independence, her office is also rolling out the Social Economic Empowerment Programme (PPSE). Through this programme, she said, beneficiaries who have a business receive capital assistance worth Rp5 million in the form of goods as a stimulus to develop their enterprises. “The hope is that beneficiaries can develop their businesses until they are able to be self-reliant, in line with the spirit of temporary assistance, empowered forever,” said Nur Agustina.