The increase in the village's status to become a self-sufficient village will cause the funding to increase as wellCirebon, West Java (ANTARA) - Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Abdul Halim Iskandar called on village governments to improve their performance in order to achieve the status of a self-sufficient village.
"The increase in the village's status to become a self-sufficient village will cause the funding to increase as well," the minister remarked while delivering remarks at the Nusantara Appropriate Technology gala dinner here on Tuesday.
He noted that currently, several villages were not keen to acquire the self-sufficient status over concerns that village funds will be decreased.
"There are many perceptions that while becoming a self-sufficient village, the funds are reduced. It is actually the opposite since self-sufficient villages talk about developing human resources. It is not an easy thing," he remarked.
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He explained that the allocation of village funds for self-sufficient villages would increase as the issues are more complex than the development of infrastructures in villages.
Self-sufficient villages cover community empowerment and not merely village development, he remarked.
On the occasion, he lauded West Java's village heads for having succeeded in eliminating the underdeveloped and very underdeveloped status in their villages.
"For village heads, whose villages are already self-sufficient, the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration is commending by giving badges and certificates of appreciation," he remarked.
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Earlier, Minister Iskandar noted that the use of village funds had helped to successfully reduce the number of very underdeveloped villages, from 13,435 in 2015 to 4,982 in 2022.
During the same period, the number of underdeveloped villages also declined, from 33,592 villages to 9,584 villages.
Meanwhile, the number of developing villages increased, from 22,882 to 33,902; the number of developed villages rose, from 3,608 to 20,249; and the number of self-sufficient villages grew, from 174 to 6,238.
"The status of village development, according to the IDM (Developing Villages Index), is one of the bases for the allocation of village funds," he stated.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
