Indef: Do Not Let The Wrong Target Social Assistance Happen Again

Illustration. (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

JAKARTA - The government will extend social assistance (Bansos) for basic food and cash transfers (BLT) until the end of the year. Executive Director of the Institute for Development Economics and Finance (Indef), Tauhid Ahmad, assessed that the government must be able to ensure that social assistance is right on target.

Tauhid said that the government has no more reason not to verify and validate data on potential beneficiaries of assistance obtained from social services in the regions. This is because the period of provision has been extended.

"Data validation needs to be there, it's enough time, except for three months it is hard. But until December, so it needs to be there. Because it is impossible in this condition not to be verified. In the end the social budget will not be right on target and the people who do not need it only. just increase their savings, "he said, when contacted by VOI, in Jakarta, Tuesday, May 19.

According to Tauhid, if the government has decided to extend the time to provide assistance, it means that the government has predicted that the crisis will last until the end of the year. Therefore, data collection and data verification are very important in order to have the names of new potential recipients.

Tauhid said, in the condition of the corona virus pandemic or COVID-19, the government must involve independent agencies in data collection, such as the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) accompanied by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Regional Governments. This is because you cannot rely solely on data from the lowest level in the region, namely the head of the neighborhood unit (RT) or community unit (RW).

Furthermore, Tauhid explained, apart from not understanding the indicators to classify the poor and near poor, RT / RW tend to avoid social conflicts in the community.

"In my place, all of them finally got yesterday. So you no longer see rich or poor who have been laid off or not. Because instead of social conflict, they were finally divided. Pity for the people who really need it and in the end the number is not enough. He should have got 100. because it has to be shared with others, he only gets half or a quarter of it, "he explained.

Tauhid said, the needs of the under-poor or near-poor people must be met by the government. This is because they are the most needy group with a greater value of assistance. In addition to their relatively good needs, they are also the most vulnerable.

"Because they have no income, have no assets or financial guarantees and have no savings. This is what I think the community is in danger of," he said.

Don't Reduce the Value of Help

The government did extend the time for providing social assistance, but the value of assistance received by the community decreased. Initially, the people of Jabodetabek received basic food assistance with a value of Rp. 600,000 which was given for the three months of April to June. Meanwhile, non-Jabodetabek people received BLT worth IDR 600,000.

However, in the July to December period, the amount of assistance received by the Jabodetabek and non-Jabodetabek communities decreased to Rp. 300,000.

According to Tauhid, the government's decision to reduce the value of aid will in fact create new problems. This is because, with an aid value of Rp. 300,000 it is not enough to cover the needs of the poor for one month.

"This is at least 10 or 12 percent of the need, so it is very lacking. We are worried that this crisis or this pandemic will not be resolved in a relatively fast time. So in my opinion, it is not reduced, it must be added," he explained.

No Need for The New Normal Scenario

Tauhid does not deny that if The New Normal scenario is implemented, there will be an increase in economic activity. However, this increase was also accompanied by an increase in new cases and in the end, it made the pandemic never end in Indonesia.

"The pandemic will be longer and it will be even longer. Now there are 400 cases per day, it will rise again. If it rises, the government can issue a new PSBB policy in one area and so on and eventually it will not stop and consequently the economic recovery will be relatively longer. "he said.

According to Tauhid, what the government should do right now is to provide social assistance with a large value. So, the needs of the community can be met.

"Issue more social assistance and PSBB is a bit firm. We have to accelerate the timing of the pandemic, do not let this drag on. Our institution is too sure that this has decreased pandemic cases. So that the policy of The New Normal is issued, in my opinion if the calculation is now, this case it's still relatively high, "he said.

Moreover, said Tauhid, currently people tend to ignore health. In fact, the most important thing to reduce the number of cases is awareness about safety and health in the community.

"Now the people are ignorant because indeed the government also tends to allow and inconsistency with the policies made. Kasua Soetta Airport is one of the illustrations," he explained.

Previously, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani said, from the consumption side, the steps taken by the government were to provide social assistance subsidies to the poor and vulnerable people more broadly. The aim is to prevent the decline in consumption which has seen a sharp decline.

Sri said the social assistance program at the time of the spread of COVID-19 had been implemented by the government, starting from the family hope program (PHK) to the Pre-Employment Card.

"Jabodetabek social assistance and non-jabodetabek cash assistance will be given for nine months until December," he said in a video conference with journalists, Monday, May 18.

Initially, the central government provided social assistance in the form of basic necessities with a value of Rp. 600,000 for the Jabodetabek area, which was given from April to June. Meanwhile, non-Jabodetabek areas are given cash with the same value.

"For July to December it is Rp. 300,000 thousand per month from Rp. 600,000 thousand per month," he explained.