Social Welfare Minister Encourages Beneficiaries to Join Village Cooperative Membership
Pasuruan, East Java — The Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Saifullah Yusuf has encouraged recipients of social welfare assistance (bansos) to become members of the Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperatives (KDKMP) in their respective local areas.
“In East Java there are more than five million beneficiaries from programmes distributed through the Ministry of Social Affairs, with Pasuruan Regency alone having 229,000 beneficiaries who can join as KDKMP members in their local areas,” said the Mensos at KDMP Gejugjati, Lekok District, Pasuruan Regency, East Java, on Tuesday.
During the joint socialisation activity with the Ministry of Cooperatives, the Mensos explained that this is an effort by the government to ensure that social assistance is not merely consumptive in nature, but can also promote community welfare through cooperative empowerment.
With the massive number of beneficiaries in East Java, particularly in Pasuruan, he assessed that the potential for strengthening local economics through KDKMP can develop well if beneficiaries are actively involved as members.
In addition to socialisation on cooperative membership for social welfare beneficiaries, the Mensos stated that the Ministry of Social Affairs is also piloting an economic empowerment programme for beneficiary families in the region.
He mentioned that 100 selected families will receive business assistance in the form of 24 laying hens per family, which are expected to provide additional income.
“The egg production can subsequently be sold through KDMP Gejugjati, creating an economic ecosystem that mutually supports cooperative members,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono stated that this inter-agency collaboration also represents a government effort to shift the paradigm of rural communities from merely being recipients of social welfare to being empowered as economic actors.
He hopes the collaborative programme can improve the welfare of rural communities receiving social assistance and can boost village economies, which is expected to have national impact.