Hidayat Nur Wahid Asks Social Minister Risma To Blusukan To The Ministry Of Finance And Jokowi, BST Not To Break Up

Hidayat Nur Wahid (Photo: DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly Hidayat Nur Wahid has encouraged Social Minister Tri Rismaharini to propose an extension of the cash social assistance program (BST) which will end in April 2021.

Moreover, Risma has received a positive signal from the Coordinating Ministry for PMK and the Ministry of Finance, and has received support from the Indonesian Parliament and the people to submit a proposal for an extension of the BST program.

"It should be irrelevant because there is no budget for not proposing an extension of cash social assistance in 2021," Hidayat said in Jakarta, Monday, April 26.

It is known that the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy in his latest statement indicated that the 2021 BST could still be extended. This complements the statement of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) which has previously indicated the same thing.

With a positive signal from the Coordinating Minister for PMK and the Ministry of Finance as well as the fact that there is a budget plus the reality of people's needs in the field and in accordance with his oath of office, said Hidayat, then Risma should act to fight for BST.

"Social Minister Risma should have moved a conscience not to stop the cash social assistance program and immediately fight for the sustainability of this program by submitting proposals and blusukan to the Ministry of Finance, Kemenko PMK or even to the President (Jokowi)," said Hidayat.

Furthermore, Hidayat explained the negative impact if BST and the like are not continued. From the Unicef report and the Fiscal Policy Agency issued in March 2021, it shows that more than 70 percent of national households will get poorer if the emergency aid package including BST is not continued during 2021.

"Most of the people will experience a loss of net welfare if the assistance is withdrawn, especially those with low income and are in rural areas," said the member of Commission VIII DPR.

Revocation of social assistance, continued Hidayat, will also increase inequality because economic growth in 2021 will benefit high-income groups more through various stimuli for the recovery of the service and manufacturing sectors.

"Moreover, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in February 2021, the number of poor people in Indonesia has increased by 2.6 million," added this member of the DPR in the social sector.

In addition, the deputy chairman of the PKS Shura Council reminded that the projection of economic growth for the first quarter of 2012 based on the statement from the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy is still in the range of minus 0.3 percent-0.5 percent. In fact, during that period the BST program was still running.

"This means that if the program is terminated, the consumption sector, which accounts for 57 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), will be increasingly difficult to revive, thus potentially holding back economic growth in the following quarters," Hidayat explained.

This amount, according to him, is relatively small compared to the total national economic recovery budget (PEN) which is almost Rp. 700 trillion.

Therefore, the DKI Jakarta legislator assessed that the BST program could be continued with a scheme part of the PEN program. Because he said, the benefits of the BST program were proven to be effective in moving the economy of the people affected by COVID-19 and contributing to preventing an increase in poverty and inequality due to corona.

"So, from the micro (community condition) and macro (Indonesian economy) side, cash social assistance is still very important to be continued. I received a lot of aspirations from residents. They refused to withdraw the cash social assistance, "said Hidayat.