Mendes PDTT Commitment To Discourse On 2024 Village Funds Increases To IDR 5 Billion Per Village

JAKARTA - Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (Mendes PDTT) Abdul Halim Iskandar revealed that village funds that have the potential to increase to IDR 5 billion per village starting in 2024 are important for the needs of independent villages.

"Because the village is increasingly independent, the budget requirement is getting bigger, because the budget sector is getting more and more abstract. Among other things, economic growth has become a focus," said Mendes PDTT at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Monday, November 20, which was confiscated by Antara.

He is committed to trying to grant the discourse of increasing village funds from an average of Rp. 1 billion to Rp. 5 billion per village every year.

"Yes, of course," said Mendes PDTT.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) website reports that of the total 74,961 villages in Indonesia, data on the Building Village Index (IDM) in 2021 recorded that 3,269 villages or equivalent to 4 percent had the status of Mandiri Village and 3,409 villages with the status of Developed Villages. Meanwhile, the number of Villages Developed as many as 1,946 villages and Disadvantaged Villages as many as 3,299 villages.

When the village is independent, he said, the tendency for budget needs for infrastructure improvement will shift to maintenance to adding to the relevant supporting aspects.

"But the most important thing that the independent village demands is economic growth, which is the absolute need for the welfare of the people," he said.

Mendes PDTT said that increasing village funds is also important to increase various competencies of human resources (HR) from village officials.

"So that community cadres in the village become more potential to welcome Indonesia as gold," he said.

Mendes PDTT said the task and responsibility of village assistants must explain this, that the addition of IDR 5 billion per village every year is solely for the welfare of the village community itself.

"This is also our duty so that the presence of village funds is felt by all citizens, of course it is not easy but must be done," he said.