According to the direction of the President (Joko Widodo), we will accelerate the disbursement of the BLT Dana DesaJakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT) has said it will accelerate the disbursement of BLT Dana Desa (unconditional village fund cash transfers) for the 2022 fiscal year.
The accelerated disbursement will be more effective in easing the burden on poor and vulnerable families in the villages, Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration, Abdul Halim Iskandar, said in a statement here on Friday.
"According to the direction of the President (Joko Widodo), we will accelerate the disbursement of the BLT Dana Desa,” the minister stated.
As of February 17, 2022, the disbursement of BLT Dana Desa has reached Rp354 billion or 9.62 percent of the total planned disbursement, he noted.
The acceleration of disbursement of BLT Dana Desa is intended to maximize assistance in compiling rural budgets, he informed.
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The Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK) is targeting to complete the distribution of social assistance (bansos) in the last two weeks of February 2022, he said.
"The Ministry of Social Affairs, Kemendes PDTT, and the Ministry of Education and Culture must immediately accelerate the distribution of the 2022 social assistance in the last two weeks of February," Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, said.
He urged all parties to remain committed to overseeing the acceleration of the distribution of social assistance. Data, administrative processes, regulatory adjustments must be completed in the first week of February 2022, he said.
The utilization of village funds has helped cut poverty and unemployment in villages amid the pandemic, a researcher from the Economic Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) had said earlier.
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"The villages’ poverty and unemployment rates increase is lower than cities’ due to the funds," Pihri Buhaerah affirmed.
The funds have been considered highly effective in reducing poverty and joblessness in villages, he reiterated. The total village funds disbursed during 2015–2021 have reached Rp400.1 trillion, he noted.
The number of villages receiving the funds was recorded at 82,395 in 2016, he informed. Later, the number increased to 83,381 villages, he added.
Buhaerah said he hoped that the funds can be managed better since a number of problems are still hindering their utilization. For instance, the funds are vulnerable to abuse of authority as village elites often dominate the management of the funds, he explained.
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Translator: Zubi M, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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