Lowokwaru, MC – The Indonesian Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (Mendes PDTT), Eko Putro Sandjojo, admitted that he was pleased because many parties cared about and monitored the use of village funds, such as universities and NGOs. (Non Government Organization_ed) so that the use of village funds will be more targeted and beneficial for rural communities.
This was conveyed by Minister Eko after a seminar at Brawijaya University Malang, Thursday (19/01). According to him, the village fund is very large and from year to year it always increases. In 2015 it was Rp 20,8 trillion, in 2016 Rp 46,96 trillion, in 2017 Rp 60 trillion and in 2018 it will increase to Rp 120 trillion.
According to the instructions of the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo, the supervision and use of village funds must also be supervised by the community, so that it is more transparent in its use. In relation to this, the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration has also involved 13 universities, and is currently led by the Chancellor of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
"We chose universities to supervise the village funds because they are considered more independent and have no other interests. Previously there was a slight obstacle, where the recruitment of the supervisory team was involved in politics. Therefore, now we are handing it over to universities," Eko added.
In order for this program to be more optimal, he added, the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration and the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti) this year increased the supervision budget. "Through the Pertides or Higher Education for Villages and Real Work Lecture (KKN) program run by universities, it is hoped that this program will be more optimal," Minister Eko hoped.
These students, he added, are in direct contact with the community through Pertides and KKN, so they can directly supervise the use of village funds. "They can help and supervise from the administrative side and direct use in the field. We hope that what we have programmed will run according to applicable regulations," concluded Eko. (say/yon)
