KPU Ensures Social Security And Health Checks For KPPS Members To Prevent The 2019 Tragedy From Repeating

JAKARTA - KPU chairman Hasyim Asy'ari ensured that there were social protection guarantees and health checks for members of the polling group (KPPS) who served in the 2024 General Election (Pemilu).

Apart from that, the KPU also only accepts KPPS members whose maximum age is 55 years and in good health.

Hasyim explained that the policy was aimed at preventing kpps members from dying while working during the 2024 election vote on February 14, 2024.

"In this healthy condition, the local government also provides support in the form of health checks, medical facilities to ad hoc bodies (members of KPPS). Likewise, for the social security of election organizers, the President (Joko Widodo) has issued Presidential Instruction Number 2 of 2021 concerning Employment Social Security," said Hasyim as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, January 25.

He explained that the presidential instruction included election organizers in the list of recipients of social security. Hasyim added that the contributions to social security were financed by their respective regional governments.

"Those who are members of the election organizers are residents from the local area, as well as the government, in this case the Ministry of Home Affairs, then the Presidential Staff Office or KSP, also initiated together with the KPU, Bawaslu, then the Ministry of Health and BPJS Health provided social security for health in order to track the health conditions of the election organizers," said Hasyim.

The chairman of the KPU also guaranteed that his institution would clean up and try to prevent the tragedy of the death of more than 800 KPPS members in the 2019 Election from repeating itself.

"We have evaluated the situation and based on existing research it shows that the tendency to die is over 50 years old. Second, almost all who die have comorbidities or congenital diseases. Based on the study, it is also shown that there are three highest (causes of death, ed.) rankings, the first is heart attack, both hypertension or high blood pressure, then diabetes, "said Hasyim Asy'ari.

The KPU inaugurated simultaneously 5,741,127 members of the polling group (KPPS) in 71,000 locations where the event was led directly by the Chairman of the KPU.

Millions of KPPS members after being inaugurated by the KPU chairman immediately received technical guidance (bimtek) simultaneously, including those related to voting technicalities.

Hasyim explained that it was different from the previous election which only provided guidance to one member of the KPPS per TPS, in the 2024 General Election, all members of the KPPS as many as seven people per TPS received technical guidance from the KPU.