Social Affairs Minister Says Welfare Distribution to Be Channelled Through Kopdes Merah Putih
Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf, also known as Gus Ipul, has revealed that the government is preparing a scheme to distribute social assistance (bansos) through the Kopdes Merah Putih village cooperative programme. The scheme is set to be trialled in a number of regions.
Gus Ipul made the statement following a limited meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. Currently, the Ministry of Social Affairs distributes two types of social assistance, namely non-cash food aid and the Family Hope Programme (PKH).
Both programmes currently provide assistance in the form of cash transfers. Going forward, he said, the distribution of these two social assistance programmes will be channelled through Kopdes Merah Putih. According to him, the cooperatives will eventually host various service outlets, including branches of state-owned banks (Himbara), which can support the distribution process.
“Of course, in the future we will also try to distribute it through the Kopdes, because the Kopdes will have various outlets. One of them will be a Himbara bank outlet,” said Gus Ipul.
Gus Ipul stated that the plan has begun to be coordinated across various parties. The government is currently trialling its implementation in several areas starting this August.
“It has started to be coordinated. Now it is being trialled in several places. Hopefully, the target is to try it around this August,” he said.
According to Gus Ipul, the government’s current focus is to follow up on President Prabowo Subianto’s directive to strengthen and sharpen the implementation of strategic programmes, including the Kopdes Merah Putih.
“So, the important thing today is to receive the President’s directive on how this strategic programme is strengthened and its implementation sharpened,” he said. “In my opinion, the President’s directive is quite clear and God willing, when everything is ready—the infrastructure, the human resources, and the commodities—it will proceed.”