Government Starts Shifting Social Assistance Functions: From Assistance to Empowerment

Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf or Gus Ipul said that social assistance recipients, especially the productive age, are expected to participate in government empowerment programs. (Teddy Kurniawan VOI)

JAKARTA - The government has begun to shift the direction of social assistance policies or bansos. No longer just functioning as cash assistance, bansos are now directed to be the gateway to community empowerment programs.

Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf or Gus Ipul said that social assistance recipients, especially the productive age, are expected to participate in government empowerment programs so that they have the opportunity to get out of the poverty cycle.

"This social assistance is expected not to demotivate the community. In fact, on the contrary, with this social assistance, it is expected that the community will be more enthusiastic by following other strategic programs of the President," said Gus Ipul at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Tuesday, May 12.

According to Gus Ipul, the government is now preparing various empowerment programs that are connected to poverty alleviation. One of them is through coordination with the Coordinating Ministry for People's Empowerment.

Gus Ipul conveyed this when reporting on the development of the President's strategic program at the Ministry of Social Affairs. The three main agendas reported were data updates, targeted social assistance, and the implementation of People's Schools.

In the process of arranging social assistance, the Ministry of Social Affairs also continues to match the data of assistance recipients. This year, the latest data from the Central Statistics Agency will be matched with the data of the Financial Transaction Reporting and Analysis Center or PPATK.

This step is taken to ensure that social assistance is actually received by the needy groups and not misused.

Kemensos previously had crossed out hundreds of thousands of social assistance recipients who were suspected of using the aid for online gambling or judol. In the first quarter of 2026, more than 11 thousand beneficiary families were crossed out again due to similar indications.

According to Gus Ipul, social assistance is still important as a cushion for vulnerable people. However, the government wants social assistance not to stop as a consumer aid.

Therefore, productive age residents will continue to be encouraged to enter empowerment programs so that they have more stable employment and income opportunities.

In addition to social assistance, Gus Ipul also reported on the preparation of the People's School for the 2026-2027 academic year which will begin next July. This year, the program targets 32 thousand new students.