8,157 Villages Disburse Cash Transfer Assistance for Village People in April
Info graphics of Cash Transfer Assistance (BLT) to villages. (Photo by: Ministry of Village, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration)
As of Monday (27/4), 8,157 villages in 76 regencies have disbursed Cash Transfer Assistance (BLT) which is sourced from the Village Funds. The cash assistance are disbursed through bank transfer or directly to the houses of beneficiaries in cash.
The statements were made by Minister of Village, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Abdul Halim Iskandar in a virtual press conference in Jakarta, Monday (27/4). The Minister added that Rp70 billions of cash transfer assistance have been disbursed to the people.
“Although the program of reallocating Village Funds for BLT was just initiated this month, some of the fund have already been disbursed,” he said.
The Minister went on to say that not all villages can disburse the BLT through bank transfer. If it cannot be done through bank transfer, the assistance can be given in cash by involving local police officers for supervision.
On that occasion, the Minister also asserted that the direct distribution of the BLT must always follow the health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
For the record, 31 percent of Village Funds in 2020 budget year amounting Rp72 trillions or equal to Rp22.4 trillion was allocated for the BLT program. The cash assistance will be given to the village people whose economy are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and have not received other social assistance programs such as the Family Hope Program (PKH), Non-cash Food Assistance (BPNT), and Pre-employment Card through village heads or apparatus.
“To avoid overlapping (with other social assistance program), the Integrated Data of Social Welfare (DTKS) will serve as a reference for the selection. If the database shows that the prospective beneficiaries for BLT have not received any social assistance programs, then those affected by the pandemic will likely be selected as the beneficiaries,” he explained.
The data about prospective beneficiaries will be collected by volunteers of village squad to prevent spread of COVID-19 at neighborhood/community association level. Three volunteers will collect the data that will be submitted to the village forum (Musdes). The beneficiaries will be selected in the village forum, and the list will be signed by the village head, and authorized by the regional government at regency level or by the mayor.
“We give authority to the village heads as a token of our trust because village heads know better about their villages’ conditions,” he said.
The Minister also called out regents/mayors to assist village heads in implementing the BLT program since the program is a matter of humanity that must become our main priority.
“I also want to express gratitude to the regent/mayors who assisted the village heads and facilitated the villagers who need the cash assistance the most,” he stated.
To date, Rp10.04 trillion of cash transfer assistance have been transferred to 34,856 Village Bank Accounts which will be distributed to 5.59 million households throughout Indonesia when the regional government at regency level finishes the data collection. (Ministry of Village, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration /EN)
Translated by : Rany Anjany S
Reviewed by: Lulu Wuliarti
