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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Economy & Trade

Indonesia’s parliament highlights errors in subsidy data and urges BPS to fix them

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Indonesian lawmakers say errors in welfare classifications exclude some eligible subsidy recipients while allowing others to receive aid incorrectly.
  • Budget Committee chairman Said Abdullah urged the government to improve data accuracy and consider biometric verification such as fingerprints or retinal scans.
  • The statistics agency said it reviewed the case of a becak driver whose classification rose from the lowest tiers to tier nine and found that earlier records no longer reflected his circumstances.

Indonesia’s parliament is pressing the government to correct welfare data after subsidy classifications left some people who need assistance outside the system while including others who do not qualify.

Said Abdullah, chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, said the problem had persisted from the former Integrated Social Welfare Data system, or DTKS, through the current National Single Social and Economic Data system, known as DTSEN. “Those who are entitled to receive assistance do not receive it because they should be in decile three, but suddenly their decile is nine. Those who are not entitled receive it. The inclusion and exclusion errors have been a major problem from 2017, from DTKS until now,” he said.

Those who are entitled to receive assistance do not receive it because they should be in decile three, but suddenly their decile is nine. Those who are not entitled receive it. The inclusion and exclusion errors have been a major problem from 2017, from DTKS until now.

· Said AbdullahThe Budget Committee chairman described how faulty welfare classifications affect subsidy recipients.

Abdullah said the validity of the data directly affects the effectiveness of subsidies and government assistance. Complaints from the public continue to indicate that some recipients’ classifications do not match their actual economic conditions. He also urged the government to use more advanced technology, suggesting fingerprints or retinal identification to make verification easier for eligible recipients.

The key phrase we always emphasize has become biased.

· Said AbdullahAbdullah criticized distortions in the data used to determine assistance eligibility.

The issue drew wider attention after the case of Timbul, known as Pak Timbul, a becak driver from Kulon Progo in Yogyakarta. His DTSEN welfare status reportedly jumped from decile one or two to decile nine, putting his access to social assistance at risk.

Statistics Indonesia, or BPS, said it had checked and updated Pak Timbul’s information. Its field review found that the earlier DTSEN record did not reflect his current circumstances. BPS also said he had never independently updated his data through the available channels.

The government has the capability to do that, so people at the bottom would have an easier time. They would only need to tap with a fingerprint.

· Said AbdullahHe advocated biometric identification for subsidy verification.
About this summary

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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