Jakarta – The Chairman of the Government Digital Transformation Acceleration Committee (KPTDP), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, emphasized that the government continues to accelerate digital transformation in the social protection system to ensure that the distribution of social assistance (bansos) is more targeted, transparent, and easily accessible to the public.
The digitalization of social protection is part of the government’s efforts to strengthen social assistance governance and reduce potential irregularities in aid distribution.
This new digital technology-based system allows for more accurate recipient verification through the use of biometric data and facial recognition.
“So, for example, I, the village head, can no longer say, ‘Hey, you got social assistance, but you voted for me.’ That won’t happen again,” Luhut said.
According to Luhut, digitizing social protection will create a more transparent system because all aid recipients are digitally recorded and verified. This means that social assistance can no longer be used as a tool to influence people’s political choices in various democratic contests.
“In the future, residents will no longer be able to be manipulated to support their political parties, because all social assistance data will be recorded using facial recognition and biometrics, and it can be verified immediately,” he said.
Luhut explained that the government had piloted a digital social protection system in Banyuwangi, East Java. The results showed a significant increase in accuracy in distributing aid to those truly entitled to receive it.
He revealed that before digitalization was implemented, the rate of non-targeted aid recipients in Banyuwangi reached 77.6 percent. After the digital system was implemented, that figure was reduced to around 10 percent. This achievement is a significant indicator that technology can help improve the effectiveness of government social assistance programs.
One of the biggest benefits is the simplification of the administrative process. While previously the social assistance registration and verification process could take up to 200 days, it can now be completed in just minutes. Furthermore, fees, which previously reached Rp 150,000, have been reduced to almost nothing.
The government is targeting the official launch of the digital social protection system in October to November 2026. Before the national rollout, the system is scheduled to be tested directly by President Prabowo Subianto in early July.
The government estimates that these governance improvements have the potential to generate state spending efficiencies of between Rp170 trillion and Rp260 trillion. Therefore, digitizing social assistance is a strategic step to provide faster, more transparent, and more targeted public services to all Indonesians.
[wR]