23,800 Civil Servants Receive Social Assistance, Most in West Java

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) found that 23,800 civil servants (ASN) are registered as monthly recipients of social assistance (bansos) from the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos).

This was discovered when the KPK and Kemensos cross-referenced the population identification number (NIK) and the integrated social welfare data (DTKS) with data from the National Civil Service Agency (BKN).

"Civil servants already have their health insurance paid for by BPJS Kesehatan; now they're being paid again from DTKS to PBI—that's roughly it. So this duplication is certainly inappropriate," said Pahala Nainggolan, KPK Director of Prevention and Monitoring, in an online coordination meeting on the accuracy of bansos recipients on Tuesday (September 5, 2023).

Furthermore, the National Corruption Prevention Strategy (Stranas PK) team also revealed that cases of civil servants receiving bansos occur throughout Indonesia.

West Java recorded the highest number of civil servants receiving bansos in 2023, with 3,539 individuals.

Central Java followed with 3,178 recipients, then East Java with 2,396, and North Sumatra with 1,176.

Other provinces with the highest number of ASN receiving bansos in Indonesia include Aceh, South Sulawesi, NTT, West Papua, South Sulawesi, and DKI Jakarta, with the numbers shown in the graph.

Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini reported on her official website that the potential state losses from improperly targeted bansos distribution exceed Rp523 billion per month.

Responding to the high number of misdirected bansos recipients, the KPK requested that relevant institutions rectify the inaccurate bansos data within the next month.

(See also: How much is the annual bansos budget for the poor?)