"The amount of the fund is higher than the same period of last year, when it amounted to Rp28.59 trillion," Iskandar informed at a press conference on the utilization of village funds, which was accessed online from Jakarta on Tuesday.
He said he is optimistic that the increased absorption of village funds would accelerate village development.
"There will be good progress from the absorption of the village fund. We are focusing on national economic recovery at the village level with this funding," he added.
Village funds have so far been allocated to 73,255 villages, or 98 percent of the total 74,961 villages in Indonesia, Iskandar informed.
Outlining the utilization of the village funds, he said Rp9.54 trillion was provided to 6.45 million beneficiary families as direct cash assistance (BLT), Rp1.08 trillion was used to absorb as many as 567,063 village workers under the Village Cash Work Unit (PKTD) program, Rp2.94 trillion was allocated for the ‘COVID-19 safe villages’ program, Rp5.95 trillion went toward ensuring food security, and Rp15.19 trillion was allocated for other priority village activities.
The minister further said that 59,315 female workers and 19,228 female heads of household (PEKKA) benefited from the village fund disbursal for the PKTD program.
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"We are highlighting the number of female workers and female heads of household. This is in line with what we expect, namely the involvement of women in utilizing the Village Cash-Intensive Work program," he added.
Iskandar said he hopes that the number of women workers would continue to increase to boost people's purchasing power, especially of marginal groups.
"One of the targets of village cash-intensive work is making efforts to increase the purchasing power of the community, especially people from marginal groups," he informed.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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