“In a bid to elevate their living standards and dignity, we will implement a policy that limits the duration of social aid provision to five years for all beneficiaries, excluding the elderly and people with disabilities,” he expounded.
He made the statement during a meeting with the Budget Agency of the House of Representatives (DPR) at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta on Monday.
According to Iskandar, the initiative is a part of his ministry’s ongoing efforts to shift the state’s approach to poverty issues—from one focused on aid provision to one centered on empowerment.
To this end, the minister emphasized that his office will strive to foster an environment that treats social assistance as a temporary safety net and encourages poor residents to independently improve their welfare.
“Our people should no longer heavily rely on social aid sourced from the State Budget. It is critical that they grow independent and productive,” he said.
He added that this empowerment push aligns with the government’s target to completely eliminate extreme poverty by next year, as outlined in the 2024–2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).
The minister said that the government aims to achieve this goal by streamlining policies of ministries and agencies, as mandated in Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2025 on the Optimization of Efforts to Reduce Poverty and Eliminate Extreme Poverty.
In this regard, he underlined that the government is using the National Integrated Socio-Economic Data (DTSEN) to ensure that all programs are measurable, accurate, and sustainable.
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Translator: Anita P, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Arie Novarina
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