|
We have just
celebrated the 68th anniversary of our nation. For millions of Indonesians, the
celebration does not mean much. Our red and white can be found everywhere, yet
these flags do not mean much.
People are preoccupied by what to eat, what to wear and where to sleep, which most of us take for granted. About 28 million Indonesians (11.3 percent) currently live under the poverty line on Rp 8,651 per day.
If we use the US$2 level instead, there are a lot more (47 percent) impoverished Indonesians.
Let’s think about what Rp 8,651 would buy. Not much. With this amount, one would not even be able to buy one very simple meal at a Warung Tegal — the simplest roadside food stall in Jakarta.
This amount would not be enough for a round trip fare to my office on Jl. Juanda in Central Jakarta. So although we have had independence for almost seven decades, millions of our people still go to bed on empty stomachs every day.
Hence, we cannot help but ask, what does independence really mean to us all? Are we any closer to the goals set forth by our founding fathers when they fought for the things we now enjoy?
Considering the above fact and various other problems we are now facing, there is no room whatsoever for complacency.
The government intends to reduce the poverty rate further by 8-10 percent by the end of 2014. As of September 2012, the rate was 11.66 percent and as of March 2013 it was 11.37 percent, which means in six months the rate of decline has only been 0.29 percent.
If this trend continues into the upcoming year, at the end of 2014, the rate of poverty will still be above 10 percent.
There is not much time left for the administration. “Sprint to the finish” efforts — borrowing HS Dillon’s term — are needed as time is running out. However, not many options are available to the government.
The best place to start is to significantly increase the effectiveness of the ongoing poverty alleviation programs, especially rice for the poor (Raskin), family hope program (PKH) and the newly launched temporary direct cash assistance (BLSM) to help the poor cope with the expected price hike due to the reduction in fuel subsidies.
Mistargeting has been the major problem facing these programs. The rice from the Raskin program, for example, has been distributed evenly among villages, instead of 15 kilograms for each poor family as planned.
Operators in the field must make sure that these programs reach the right beneficiaries. Consistent use of the unified database system currently maintained by the TNP2K (National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Alleviation) will be of great help in this regard.
In many regions, different institutions controlling different programs are using different data to channel program benefits.
The use of the same database not only will improve targeting, but will also foster complementarities among these programs. As such, poor families will receive multiple benefits which, in turn, will expedite their graduation.
Poor families are characterized by a lack of productive assets. In this respect, the above programs need to be supplemented by efforts to promote capital formation and accumulation among poor households.
This can be done by providing items like goats, chickens, ducks or horticulture seeds to poor families, especially in rural areas. Such assistance will allow the poor to generate cash income in the very near future.
Within months, this program will strengthen asset formation among poor households.
A special distribution scheme, however, needs to be devised if this program is going to be implemented, because using the normal mechanism through ministries will be confronted by complicated bureaucratic procedures.
In the medium to long term, the prevailing management systems of the poverty alleviation programs warrant readjustment in order to ensure program effectiveness.
Under the current management scheme, effective program coordination and synchronization are almost impossible because each program is managed by different institution.
The PKH is under the Social Affairs Ministry, the scholarships for the poor (BSM) is under the control of Education and Culture Ministry, the Health Insurance for the Public (Jamkesmas) is under the Health Ministry, and Raskin is managed by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).
Consequently, there is no single institution that can be credited or accountable for the success — or failure — of these programs. The TNP2K is expected to become the coordination hub; however, it is inherently unworkable as legally, the TNP2K is inferior to ministries.
Coordination is not only very difficult at the national level but also at the region level. The best alternative would be to empower the TNP2K so that it would have full authority to coordinate and synchronize all poverty alleviation programs, both at the central and regional levels.
As such, the TNP2K will be fully accountable for the success or failure of these programs.
With this scheme, we can be quite sure that the trillions of rupiah intended for the poor would benefit those who are the most entitled and in need. ●
People are preoccupied by what to eat, what to wear and where to sleep, which most of us take for granted. About 28 million Indonesians (11.3 percent) currently live under the poverty line on Rp 8,651 per day.
If we use the US$2 level instead, there are a lot more (47 percent) impoverished Indonesians.
Let’s think about what Rp 8,651 would buy. Not much. With this amount, one would not even be able to buy one very simple meal at a Warung Tegal — the simplest roadside food stall in Jakarta.
This amount would not be enough for a round trip fare to my office on Jl. Juanda in Central Jakarta. So although we have had independence for almost seven decades, millions of our people still go to bed on empty stomachs every day.
Hence, we cannot help but ask, what does independence really mean to us all? Are we any closer to the goals set forth by our founding fathers when they fought for the things we now enjoy?
Considering the above fact and various other problems we are now facing, there is no room whatsoever for complacency.
The government intends to reduce the poverty rate further by 8-10 percent by the end of 2014. As of September 2012, the rate was 11.66 percent and as of March 2013 it was 11.37 percent, which means in six months the rate of decline has only been 0.29 percent.
If this trend continues into the upcoming year, at the end of 2014, the rate of poverty will still be above 10 percent.
There is not much time left for the administration. “Sprint to the finish” efforts — borrowing HS Dillon’s term — are needed as time is running out. However, not many options are available to the government.
The best place to start is to significantly increase the effectiveness of the ongoing poverty alleviation programs, especially rice for the poor (Raskin), family hope program (PKH) and the newly launched temporary direct cash assistance (BLSM) to help the poor cope with the expected price hike due to the reduction in fuel subsidies.
Mistargeting has been the major problem facing these programs. The rice from the Raskin program, for example, has been distributed evenly among villages, instead of 15 kilograms for each poor family as planned.
Operators in the field must make sure that these programs reach the right beneficiaries. Consistent use of the unified database system currently maintained by the TNP2K (National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Alleviation) will be of great help in this regard.
In many regions, different institutions controlling different programs are using different data to channel program benefits.
The use of the same database not only will improve targeting, but will also foster complementarities among these programs. As such, poor families will receive multiple benefits which, in turn, will expedite their graduation.
Poor families are characterized by a lack of productive assets. In this respect, the above programs need to be supplemented by efforts to promote capital formation and accumulation among poor households.
This can be done by providing items like goats, chickens, ducks or horticulture seeds to poor families, especially in rural areas. Such assistance will allow the poor to generate cash income in the very near future.
Within months, this program will strengthen asset formation among poor households.
A special distribution scheme, however, needs to be devised if this program is going to be implemented, because using the normal mechanism through ministries will be confronted by complicated bureaucratic procedures.
In the medium to long term, the prevailing management systems of the poverty alleviation programs warrant readjustment in order to ensure program effectiveness.
Under the current management scheme, effective program coordination and synchronization are almost impossible because each program is managed by different institution.
The PKH is under the Social Affairs Ministry, the scholarships for the poor (BSM) is under the control of Education and Culture Ministry, the Health Insurance for the Public (Jamkesmas) is under the Health Ministry, and Raskin is managed by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).
Consequently, there is no single institution that can be credited or accountable for the success — or failure — of these programs. The TNP2K is expected to become the coordination hub; however, it is inherently unworkable as legally, the TNP2K is inferior to ministries.
Coordination is not only very difficult at the national level but also at the region level. The best alternative would be to empower the TNP2K so that it would have full authority to coordinate and synchronize all poverty alleviation programs, both at the central and regional levels.
As such, the TNP2K will be fully accountable for the success or failure of these programs.
With this scheme, we can be quite sure that the trillions of rupiah intended for the poor would benefit those who are the most entitled and in need. ●
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar