Social Minister Admits to Separate Procurement of Double Socks for People's School

Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf, or Gus Ipul, stated that he had only recently learned about the procurement of double socks for the needs of People’s School students. During a press conference on Tuesday, 5 May 2026, at the Ministry of Social Affairs office in Central Jakarta, Gus Ipul mentioned that the procurement of socks for the People’s School was already included in the shoe procurement.

That statement does not align with the official government procurement data in INAPROC, which shows separate sock procurements. Tempo’s investigation for 2025 found at least six sock procurement packages at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The six sock packages with ‘completed’ status or successfully received have varying prices. Here are the details:

For sock packages purchased from the supplier Erlia Cemerlang Jaya, there are three types of packages:

1. Sock package: Rp 485,685,867.

2. Student sock procurement package: Rp 1,017,521,046

3. Sock package: Rp 1,050,770,611

Sock package purchased from the company Inkabiz Indonesia

1. Sock package: Rp 94,089,758.

Sock package purchased from the supplier Semar Slamet Abadi

1. Sock package: Rp 10,618,815

Sock package purchased from the supplier Saga Karya Indonesia

1. Sock package: Rp 27,899,573

Sock package purchased from the company Bekerja Mandiri

1. Sock package: Rp 31,000,000

When confirmed separately, Gus Ipul admitted that he had only recently learned that his ministry had carried out separate sock procurements. He said the separate sock procurement was handled by the general procurement bureau.

“This was carried out by the general bureau, given to People’s School students. This is different from the earlier shoe package that included socks. It was carried out by each respectively,” said Gus Ipul when met at his office on Tuesday, 5 May 2026.

However, he could not yet explain in detail the number of socks provided separately for those People’s School students. Gus Ipul said his side would immediately check the exact data regarding this sock procurement. “We will not cover it up. We agree that this must be investigated further,” he said.

Previously, researcher from Transparency International Indonesia Agus Sarwono refuted the Ministry of Social Affairs’ statement claiming that sock procurement was already included in the shoe package for People’s School students. He assessed that the claim did not match the official government procurement data.

“That statement is untrue and misleading to the public, because it directly contradicts the official procurement data,” said Agus when contacted on Tuesday, 5 May 2026.

In the 2025 fiscal year, the Ministry of Social Affairs recorded planning sock procurement with a budget of Rp 2.72 billion and realised it at around Rp 2.71 billion through seven e-purchasing packages. A similar pattern re-emerged in 2026 with a realisation value of more than Rp 2.4 billion from an initial budget of Rp 6.8 billion. “This data refutes the narrative that socks were already included in the shoe package,” he stated.

Agus assessed that the difference between officials’ statements and budget data is not merely a communication error, but potentially forms a mistaken public opinion and covers up issues in state spending governance.