1.900 Kemensos Employees Indicted for Judol, Sanctions to Dismiss Waiting for

Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Saifullah Yusuf or Gus Ipul (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Social Minister (Mensos) Saifullah Yusuf or Gus Ipul revealed that 1,900 employees of the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) were suspected of being involved in online gambling (judol) based on data from the Financial Transaction Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK). Of these, 42 people are civil servants (PNS), the rest are government employees with work agreements (PPPK).

Saifullah said the findings were a serious concern for the Ministry of Social Affairs. The Inspector General of the Ministry of Social Affairs is currently verifying and validating to ensure that the indication is actually proven.

"There are still employees who are not disciplined, even some of them are involved in online gambling. As the data we received from PPATK, there are 1,900 Ministry of Social Affairs employees who are suspected of playing online gambling," said Saifullah, Tuesday, August 11.

According to him, the examination was carried out to ensure that the PPATK data was in accordance with the facts on the ground.

"The Itjen team is investigating to ensure that the data we can get is really proven. What was initially indicated and proven, we are verifying, we are validating," he said.

Saifullah emphasized that the Ministry of Social Affairs would impose sanctions in accordance with the provisions if the results of the examination proved the involvement of employees in online gambling practices.

The sanctions can range from reprimands to dismissal. Kemensos also opens the possibility of not extending the contract of PPPK employees, while for civil servants, sanctions can lead to dismissal in accordance with the applicable civil service rules.

"There are 42 civil servants and the rest are PPPK. This is certainly a concern for all of us, which is hoped that in the future this will be a lesson and there will be no more Ministry of Social Affairs officials involved in online gambling," said Saifullah.

"I assure you that I and Mr. Minister will give sanctions in accordance with the applicable provisions, ranging from warnings to later possibly dismissal. For PPPK, there is a possibility that we will not continue the contract," he continued.

Kemensos also found social assistance (bansos) recipients who were suspected of being involved in online gambling activities. The government will take action against beneficiaries who are proven to use or be involved in such activities.

If the results of the verification prove that the beneficiary is engaged in online gambling, the right to social assistance can be revoked or suspended.

This step was taken as an effort by the government to ensure that social assistance is provided to people who really need it while preventing the misuse of assistance for activities that are contrary to the provisions.