Subsidized rice voucher will run in February

January 31, 2017, 05.04 PM  | Reporter: Handoyo
Subsidized rice voucher will run in February


JAKARTA. The government continues to prepare the distribution of subsidized rice to welfare families (Rastra). The subsidized rice will be distributed through non-cash aid in the form of food vouchers. The program is scheduled to run in February 2017.

The food vouchers will be distributed to 1.4 million households in 40 targeted cities and 11 targeted regencies. In total, the government is preparing budget as much as Rp 1.6 trillion.

Director General of Poverty Management at the Ministry of Social Affairs Andi ZA Dulung said, 400,000 cards have been distributed to a part of eligible families. "We are targeting to complete the distribution in February," he said, Monday (30/1).

Andi added, a food voucher will contain a balance of Rp 110,000 per month for every targeted household. Every beneficiary family will receive an account of a government bank, which is part of the Association of State Owned Banks (Himbara) as the subsidies dealers.

The food voucher will be valid only for some staples, such as rice, cooking oil, sugar, and eggs. He said the government has worked with 7,000 agents or special stores, such as in Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor, Medan, and Padang to serve the food vouchers recipients.

Waiting for coordination team’s decision

The distribution of food voucher aims at reducing the number of beneficiary families of rice aid. As information, previously the government had spent Rp 22.3 trillion for rice aid program for 15.5 million families.

Although the budget is ready, the aid disbursement has to wait for the decision of coordination team of subsidy distribution, which is chaired by Coordinating Minister of Human Development and Culture Affairs.

Deputy III of Presidential Office Staff Denni Puspa Purbasari said that the food voucher’s scheme is stipulated under the Law on 2017 State Budget.

However, President Director of Bulog (State Logistic Agency) Djarot Kusumayakti said that government still needs to clarify the food voucher policy. "There is data confusion,” Djarot said. He added that Bulog need to have the exact data on the location and number of recipients to run the food voucher program. According to Bulog’s data, the subsidies recipients are only 1.2 million.

Aside of infrastructure, the government also needs to ensure the price stability. Therefore, benefits of the program can be maximized. (Muhammad Farid/Translator)

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