NasDem Asks The Government To Distribute Social Assistance Only During An Emergency

Member of the SC Congress III NasDem Martin Manurung. (Diah Ayu-VOI)

JAKARTA - The NasDem Party asked the government to improve the management of the distribution of social assistance (bansos). One of them, NasDem suggested that social assistance be distributed only during an emergency. This proposal is one of the recommendations from the results of discussions at the III Congress of the NasDem Party. "The NasDem Party recommends that social assistance be used only during emergencies, such as natural disasters, pandemics, acute hunger, and the like," said NasDem Congress III member Martin Manurung at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Tuesday, August 27. In addition, the government must improve the policies and governance of social safety net programs and social safety programs as a form of state presence in the context of poverty alleviation. Then, NasDem also asked the government to ensure the accuracy and updating of data on social assistance beneficiaries periodically through Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) to be more targeted. "It is crucial for the government to improve the social assistance system and accuracy of data on social assistance recipients as soon as possible. Because, in essence, social assistance serves as an instrument of protection for people who are experiencing difficulties in an economic emergency," Martin explained.

On that occasion, Martin reminded the facts based on the notes of the Ministry of Finance. Where, throughout 2014-2024, the budget for social protection (perlinsos) in which there is a social assistance budget has reached IDR 3,663 trillion. However, NasDem assessed that the jumbo budget was not directly proportional to the reduction in the poverty rate according to the national medium-term program plan (RPJMN) target. This condition made NasDem urge the improvement of social media governance. "The distribution of social assistance that is not on target and slow in the midst of a crisis is very concerning. The problem tends to be repeated, rooted in a combination of bureaucratic unpreparedness responding to the crisis situation that is deep and unexpected, weak leadership with capacity to control accountability and coordination across actors, as well as the weakness of the recipient database," said Martin.