Social Affairs Ministry Allocates Rp5.1 Trillion for Poor Family Development

Makassar, S Sulawesi (Antara) - The Ministry of Social Affairs has allocated Rp5.1 trillion for its family of hope (PKH) program, which will seek to assist 2.2 million poor families (PKH) throughout the country in 2014. "The Ministry of Social Affairs has a budget allocation amounting to Rp7.5 trillion in 2014. Almost 60 percent of the funds are set aside for the implementation of the PKH program," Social Affairs Minister Salim Segar Al Jufri said on the sidelines of the commemoration of the National Social Solidarity Day (HKSN) here on Saturday. He added that the program had been worked out in an effort to reduce the poverty rate in Indonesia. Besides providing families with assistance through the PKH program, the government also gave poor families working capital, in the form of a joint entrepreneurship group (KUBE) fund, so that people who were still living below the proper standard of living could increase their incomes. The minister said that people who were living below the poverty line still accounted for 11 percent of the population. It was expected that in 2014, that rate would be reduced to 10 percent. "Therefore, funds designed for social programs in the regions are expected to reach their targets and are used in accordance with the set programs," the minister said. (*)