Social Affairs Ministry: DPR Member Never Received Social Assistance Despite Being Listed in Decile 4

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Social Affairs has confirmed that no social assistance funds were received by ESR, a member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR), despite being recorded in decile 4 of the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN).

Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf stated during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday that the appearance of a public official’s name in the recipient rankings was due to old historical data from before a comprehensive update of the single data system was conducted.

“The DPR member in decile 4 was indeed listed in the decile 4 ranking, but he has never received any social assistance at all. Following the emergence of this information, we immediately investigated and updated the records; his status is no longer in decile 4,” he said.

Saifullah explained that the criteria for distributing social assistance, such as the BPNT/Basic Food Program and the Family Hope Program (PKH), are strictly limited to communities within the decile 1 to decile 4 range of the DTSEN.

Deciles are used as a ranking system to determine the socio-economic condition of a family. Deciles 1-4 represent poor to poor-vulnerable families, 5-8 represent middle-income families, and 9-10 represent upper-class or wealthy families.

Families within deciles 1-4 are the categories eligible for government intervention programmes, including social assistance such as the Family Hope Program (PKH), BPNT/Basic Food, and others.

The Ministry of Social Affairs also ensured that every report or public input regarding discrepancies in beneficiary data will be immediately followed up through cross-verification with BPS (Statistics Indonesia) and regional social services.

Conversely, Saifullah added that for groups who factually belong in the category eligible for assistance (decile 1-4) but have been moved to decile 6 or above due to data updates, there is no need for concern regarding the data refinement process. This is because status adjustments will not terminate the rights of the poor who truly require assistance.

“There is a process for proposals and appeals. Please, feel free to appeal. The important thing is that it is based on data. This data is what we use as a guideline to distribute social assistance in accordance with all existing regulations. Every rupiah we distribute must be accountable, and for that reason, data must be the basis,” he said.