"The budget of Rp760.29 billion is allocated for 841 villages which spread in seven districts in East Kalimantan," the Head of Village and Rural Development at the Village Community and Administration Empowerment Office of East Kalimantan Province Sri Wartini said here on Saturday.
The funds received by each of the villages were determined in accordance with formulas set by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration.
There are four formulas for determining the amount of funds a village received -- the number of residents, the number of low-income residents, the area size, and the geographic situation. Thus, several villages receive around Rp450 million while several others receive up to Rp1.5 billion.
According to Wartini, Kutai Kartanegara District is the biggest recipient of village funds, namely, Rp176.9 billion for 193 villages spreading across 18 sub-districts. As of Friday, the distribution has reached 92.07 percent or Rp162.88 billion.
Earlier, Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Abdul Halim Iskandar noted that the distribution of village funds from 2015–2021 had led to a 70-percent increase in village residents' incomes: from Rp572,586 per capita per month to Rp971,445 per capita per month.
He further noted that the increase in the incomes of village residents had helped reduce the poverty rate in villages.
"Since the distribution of village funds, poverty in villages has decreased from 14.21 percent in 2015 to 12.29 percent in 2022," Iskandar said.
In addition, he stated that the Gini ratio (economic inequality) has also slid from 0.334 in 2015 to 0.314 in 2022 thanks to the participation and mutual cooperation of citizens in village development.
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Translator: M Ghofar, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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