Social Minister Wants to Meet KPK Leadership, Report Procurement in People's School Programme
Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf, alias Gus Ipul, plans to meet with the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as part of transparency efforts regarding the procurement of goods and services for the People’s School programme.
He emphasised that the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) is open to all procurement processes in the People’s School.
“Of course, we are open. If there is time tomorrow, we will meet with the KPK leadership to report on all the processes we have gone through,” said Gus Ipul at the office of the Indonesian Government Communication Agency, Jakarta, on Wednesday (6/5).
Gus Ipul views the meeting with the KPK leadership as a good opportunity for evaluation for Kemensos before carrying out procurement of goods and services for the 2026 fiscal year.
Gus Ipul also stated his readiness to coordinate with law enforcement agencies, from the KPK, Police, to the Prosecutor’s Office.
“We are very open to being audited and examined as part of our efforts to ensure there are no deviations in the procurement of goods and services within the Ministry of Social Affairs,” he said.
The People’s School is one of the flagship programmes of the Prabowo-Gibran administration. Kemensos serves as the leading sector in that programme.
At the same time, Gus Ipul also clarified the narrative of markups in the price of People’s School student shoes that went viral on social media.
He had previously denied the issue and called it false information or a hoax containing slander.
“That’s slander, a hoax,” said Gus Ipul, accompanied by Deputy Social Minister Agus Jabo Priyono, during a press conference at the Ministry of Social Affairs office, Jakarta, on Tuesday (5/5), quoted from an official statement.
Gus Ipul explained that the price of Rp700,000 for a pair of shoes circulating on social media is the budget allocation (maximum limit), not the actual purchase price.
He then showed a snippet of the narrative along with a photo via a digital screen featuring a photo of himself and East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa giving shoes to People’s School students. The photo is a snippet from the documentation of the Social Pillars Dialogue event in Greater Malang on 2 May 2025.
Meanwhile, the shoes given were a gift from Governor Khofifah to 10 People’s School students, sourced from the East Java Provincial Budget (APBD), not from Kemensos procurement.
“The shoes from Mrs Khofifah are a gift, assistance from Mrs Khofifah for People’s School students in East Java,” he said.
According to Gus Ipul, comparing one photo of a certain branded shoe circulating on social media with the overall procurement of shoes for People’s School students is inappropriate, because each type of shoe has different functions, specifications, and prices.
He also claimed that all procurement processes are carried out in accordance with regulations, through transparent and competitive mechanisms, with the principle of the best offer that meets specifications as the basis for determining the winner. The circulating information needs to be understood in full to avoid creating misguided perceptions of the programme’s implementation.