Palembang (ANTARA) - The Social Office of South Sumatra has said it has prepared one thousand tons of rice to assist residents, especially those affected by the implementation of level 4 Public Activity Restrictions (PPKM).

Each beneficiary family will receive 10 kilograms of rice, which will be distributed in stages to hundreds of families in Palembang City, Lubuklinggau, Musi Banyusian district, and Musirawas, head of the Social Office, Mirwansyah, informed here on Wednesday.

Social assistance in the form of necessities will be provided to ease the burden on the people, who are struggling to put food on the table due to the implementation of the PPKM, he explained.

With the assistance, it is hoped that social problems can be prevented so that the implementation of the PPKM can run well in reducing COVID-19 transmission, he added.

Mirwansyah said his office will strictly supervise the distribution of the rice aid and other social assistance released by the government to ensure it is received by the right people.

Hundreds of Social Office officers in the province, districts, and cities, supported by the Indonesian Military TNI)( and Police, will help supervise the social assistance distribution, he informed.

Officers will directly supervise the distribution of aid at the earmarked locations by referring to data on the Family Hope Program (PKH) beneficiaries, which was updated in January, 2021, he said.

To help people in need amid the pandemic, the Indonesian government is providing social assistance through several programs across the country.

The programs are in addition to the Family Hope Program, Basic Food Card Program, PPKM Basic Food Card, Social Cash Transfer Program, Bulog Rice Assistance, Electricity Discount, Minimum Account Assistance for Load/Subscription Fees, Pre-Employment and Labor Wage Subsidy Assistance, Internet data packages assistance, and village fund cash transfers (BLTs).

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Translator: Yudi Abdullah, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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