PAN Questions Legal Basis for KIP, KISand KKS Programs

Jakarta (Antara) -- The Chief of the central executive board of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Saleh Partaonan Daulay, has questioned the legal basis for the recent launch of the Prosperous Family Cards (KKS), Indonesia Smart Cards (KIP) and Indonesia Health Cards (KIS). "So far, President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla have not explained the legal basis for the implementation of the KIS, KIP and KKS programs," Daulay said in a BlackBerry text message on Saturday. It is a reasonable query as many quarters have questioned the legal basis for the programs because they need a sizable amount of budget funds, he affirmed. The government of President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla only inherited the previous state budget, and these schemes were not explicitly taken into account while finalizing the budget, he pointed out. "The question is where are the funds to finance the programs coming from?" Daulay asked. The government had noted that funding for KIS would be taken from the Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) of the health sector and that for KIP would be taken from budget allocations to the education ministry and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of state-owned companies (BUMNs), he explained. "Did the education ministry take the programs into account when they drafted the state budget? If not, then how can the government allocate budget funds to them?" he questioned. (*)