"Through the hands of these young people, we hope that the village civilization would become more advanced," West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil stated here on Monday.
Kamil explained that village patriot, or Patriot Desa, is one of the 12 Village Development Movement Programs launched by the West Java Office of Village Community Empowerment.
Patriot Desa's tasks include providing assistance, organizing, directing, collaborating, and facilitating activities that empower youth as cadres, who mobilize village development.
To this end, the younger generation is mobilized to support economic development, increase the community's institutional capacity, develop the community's participation and independence, and increase social and cultural activities in villages.
Related news: Village funds can help build disaster resilient communities: ministry
A total of 200 village patriots have been placed in 18 districts and one city in the province, and they have reportedly grown 1,650 local development mobilizers in villages.
"The role of village patriots is to work together with relevant stakeholders on how to improve the strata (level) of villages in West Java," Kamil stated.
In terms of development, the five village levels are very underdeveloped villages, underdeveloped villages, developing villages, developed villages, and independent villages.
Head of the West Java Village Community Empowerment Office Dicky Saromi said there are no underdeveloped villages in West Java anymore, and this achievement cannot be separated from the role of village patriots.
"We assess transparency and accountability of their performance (of village patriots), based on the Key Performance Index (KPI)," Saromi remarked.
Village Community Empowerment Office's senior staff member, Koko Muhammad, said village patriots develop independent initiatives, based on the Village Development Index (IDM) recommendations and combined them with each village's potential.
Related news: Minister proposes changing village assistant status to govt employees
Translator: Ajat S, Kenzu T
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
