Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar has stated that the government will focus on providing social assistance to 3.1 million Indonesians categorised as extremely poor.
Talking to the local media, Iskandar said the Indonesian government has focused on overcoming all the problems faced by Indonesians in the extremely poor category, adding that the aid will be provided in three stages.
According to the official, the first stage will involve increasing special assistance for the extremely poor. In the second stage, the government will provide access to the extremely poor of productive age to skill development programmes. And in the third phase, those considered as the extremely poor will be encouraged to be independent.
To prepare data on the extremely poor, the Ministry of Social Affairs will coordinate with related ministries and institutions in building data records. The relevant agencies will complete and re-check the data before providing social protection and security programme for the extremely poor./.
Indonesia raises budget for free meal programme
Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has announced an increase in the budget for the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG) to 100 trillion Rp (5.9 billion USD).