Jakarta, IO – Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PAN-RB) Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas revealed that poverty alleviation budget allocated for various ministries and agencies is not effective. The fund, which amounted to Rp500 trillion in 2022 was mostly spent on meetings and comparative studies, reported VoA Indonesia, Tuesday (31/1).
“This is not in line with the President’s priority targets because ministries and agencies are busy with their own affairs,” said Azwar, adding that this must change or else this pattern will continue to repeat itself into the future.
Azwar said his ministry will also monitor program management, not just assistance provided by ministries/agencies. According to him, part of bureaucratic reform is to improve the governance aspects of poverty alleviation.
In the same vein, Hempri Suyatna, a lecturer at the Gadjah Mada University’s (UGM) Department of Social Development and Welfare viewed that bureaucrats are the cause of ineffectiveness of poverty alleviation programs.
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“I see this as a form of poverty commodification. This means that poverty is still seen as a project. Poverty is still seen as a commodity,” he said. “In the end, the government elite actually forget that poverty alleviation is a moral commitment to help the community.”
Earlier, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported that Indonesia’s poverty rate has increased by 200,000 people (0.03 percent) in the period from March to September 2022. The poverty rate in September 2022 stood at 26.36 million people (9.57 percent). (un)