Ministry of Social Affairs Requests Additional Budget of Rp22.49 Trillion, Social Assistance and People's Schools Under Scrutiny
BERITATOP - The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) has proposed an additional budget of Rp22.49 trillion for 2027 to ensure various priority programs, including social assistance (bansos) and People's Schools, can run optimally.
The proposal was submitted by Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf in a working meeting with Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives on Wednesday (10/6/2026).
"Excuse me, leadership, there are several important points we wish to convey. This indicative ceiling contains nine limitations that could potentially disrupt program implementation," said Saifullah Yusuf.
According to him, there are several obstacles in the indicative budget ceiling for 2027. One of them is a significant decrease in the office operational budget and limited management support, which is only sufficient to cover employee salaries and basic operational needs.
"Next, there is no budget for social assistance operations at all. The budget for People's Schools is still insufficient. The budget for Social Empowerment is also not optimal," revealed Saifullah.
In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs also faces limitations in the budget for social protection and security, as well as social rehabilitation programs.
"And there are no training programs, and the supervision budget is limited," explained Saifullah.
Due to these various limitations, the Ministry of Social Affairs hopes to receive support from Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives so that the additional budget of Rp22.49 trillion can be approved.
"We request the support of Commission VIII to fight for this additional budget so that national priority programs can run optimally," he said.
On the same occasion, Saifullah explained that the indicative ceiling for the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2027 is set at Rp84.71 trillion. This figure is only slightly higher than in 2026, which was Rp84.13 trillion, but still far below the 2025 budget, which reached Rp112.80 trillion.
He assessed that this condition presents its own challenge because the Ministry of Social Affairs must implement various new programs with smaller budget support.
"This means that for two consecutive years, the Ministry of Social Affairs has been carrying out increasing mandates, including People's Schools, digitalization of social assistance, affirmative business cards, with a budget that is 25 percent lower than in 2025," said Saifullah.
