Jakarta (VNA) - Secretary General of the Indonesian Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Taufik Madjid said on May 20 that as many as 3,264 villages in the country have not yet received electricity access, affecting the quality of education.
Taufik revealed this in a hearing with the working committee on education in disadvantaged, frontier, outermost and marginal areas with the House of Representatives Commission X.
According to Taufik, the absence of electricity in thousands of villages also affects the education sector.
He emphasised that budget constraints have affected development efforts in disadvantaged areas, particularly impacting the quality of education.
Villages receive different amounts of budget, Taufik said, adding that the village fund allocation depends on the population, area, poverty rate, and the level of geographic difficulty.
He elaborated that the village budget allocation has been directed or has operational guidelines for its use. The village fund is directed to be in line with the national long-term development plan (RPJPN) or national priority programmes.
Taufik suggested that the government should have a policy of allocating appropriate resources and prioritising disadvantaged areas to create development momentum, thereby narrowing the development gap between regions./.
