Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) has continued to circulate information on the government's distribution of social aid (Bansos) to the wider community.
"We help to disseminate information related to these programs by continuing to coordinate with the related ministry and institutions," spokesperson of the Kominfo Ministry Dedy Permadi stated on Friday.
According to Permadi, the effort aimed to ensure that the government’s assistance would prove advantageous to the program’s beneficiaries.
The government, through the relevant ministries and institutions, has commenced aid distribution under the Social Protection Assistance Program for people in need during the COVID-19 pandemic, the spokesperson remarked.
The social aid is segregated into the Family Hope Program (PKH), Food Card Program, Social Cash Transfer (BST), and Wage Subsidy Program (BSU), with the amount of budget allocation and the distribution mechanism aligning with the applicable regulations.
Meanwhile, Trisakti University public policy expert Trubus Rahadiansyah has encouraged the government to streamline the social aid distribution mechanism.
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Rahadiansyah has called on the government to step up the role of the Association of State-Owned Banks (Himbara) and PT Pos Indonesia in the distribution process.
The expert pressed for giving careful consideration to the use of technology-based financial applications (fintech) in the distribution of social assistance.
"What will happen in case fintech jumps in to help the social aid distribution? Will there be a conflict of interest as well?" he questioned.
Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini had earlier spoken of making an application for the distribution of social aid to be launched on August 17, 2021. The application is the result of collaboration among Bank Indonesia (BI), the Financial Services Authority (OJK), and fintech companies.
According to Rahadiansyah, fintech should demonstrate transparency while distributing the social aid fund.
Executive Director of the ICT Institute and technology observer Heru Sutadi believes that validity of the recipient data is the most important aspect to be taken into account.
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Moreover, the certainty of the amount of money distributed and the timing of the distribution are two aspects that should also elicit the government’s attention.
Speaking in connection with the digital distribution of social aid, Sutadi drew attention to the importance of equitable distribution of infrastructure.
The government must firstly ensure the availability of a stable Internet network across Indonesia, so that the distribution of social assistance can run optimally, he emphasized.
"Some 12,548 villages have yet to receive broadband Internet access. Hence, social assistance should not be hindered owing to disparity in internet infrastructure," Sutadi noted in his closing statement.
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