Jakarta (ANTARA) - Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas has said that bureaucracy must have a direct impact on reducing stunting in society.

Speaking in Banyuwangi, East Java, on Tuesday, he stressed: "Bureaucracy cannot be just about paperwork and being busy here and there. It must focus on the people. Can civil servants' work reduce poverty and stunting?"

At the "Pancasila in Action to Support Stunting Reduction" event held by the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), he said that bureaucracy should not only focus on administrative matters, but offer real changes to society.

He stressed that collective work to reduce stunting is real action based on Pancasila values.

"The movement today is a commitment to implementing the values of Pancasila in concrete actions. Gotong royong (mutual cooperation) is reflected in the collaborative governance between ministries/agencies/local governments in dealing with stunting," he said.

The thematic bureaucratic reform carried out by the ministry is encouraging bureaucratic works to have a real impact on society, he added.

According to President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) directive, bureaucracy must be agile, fast, and outcome-oriented, and not focus on the upstream.

"The assessment of the Bureaucratic Reform Index (on ministries/agencies/local governments) must describe their impact on society, which we call thematic bureaucratic reform," he said.

There are four focuses of the thematic bureaucratic reform: poverty alleviation, investment, digitization of government administration, and government program priorities, such as tackling inflation, stunting reduction, and government spending on domestic products.

Meanwhile, BPIP head Yudian Wahyudi emphasized that Pancasila values are relevant for encouraging stunting reduction efforts.

"Stunting affects the quality of the country's human resources. Stunting not only affects the physical condition of children, but also their health and cognitive skills. Hence, the BPIP is striving to manifest the Pancasila values through the foster father program to help overcome stunting," he said.

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Translator: Narda S, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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