Social Assistance Money Used By Judol, 560 Cilacap Residents Fired From Aid Recipients

Illustration of direct cash assistance (ANTARA)

CILACAP - Hundreds of beneficiary families (KPM) in Cilacap Regency, Central Java, had to swallow bitter pills. A total of 560 recipients of social assistance (bansos) were officially permanently disabled after being proven to have misused government aid funds to play online gambling (judol).

The findings were revealed by the Cilacap Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Social Service (Dinsos PPPA), which found a number of recipients of assistance using social assistance funds for these prohibited activities.

Head of the Social Security Protection and Data Processing Division of the Cilacap Social Service, Rohmat Kusyanto, emphasized that this step is a form of the government's commitment to maintaining the accuracy of the target of social assistance programs.

"The funds provided must be used according to the designation, not for online gambling or buying game credits. Of the total 560 recipients who were disabled, 57 of them were recipients of the Family Hope Program (PKH) and 503 were recipients of Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT)," explained Rohmat.

According to Rohmat, PKH funds are intended for basic needs, school fees for children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Meanwhile, BPNT can only be used to buy basic foodstuffs.

He emphasized that the supervision of social assistance recipients is now getting stricter, and the slightest violation can be fatal.

Once caught abusing aid, the consequences are immediately severe. Not only will social assistance be revoked, but also other facilities such as BPJS can also be stopped," he said.

In addition, Rohmat also reminded that assistance should not be used for consumptive online shopping, because this includes violations of the use of social assistance funds.

"Sometimes people are not aware, online shopping is considered a necessity, even though it is beyond basic needs. If that's the case, the assistance could be stopped," he added.

To tighten supervision, the PPPA Social Service Agency cooperates with PPATK in tracing the flow of funds from the beneficiary's account and phone number, including if suspicious activity is found.

Rohmat did not deny the possibility that there were other KPMs who misused aid.

"This figure can be tripled, because the understanding of the community is still lacking. We will continue to provide guidance so that they are wiser in using assistance," he concluded