Government To Lower Poverty Rate To Six Pct

Medan, N Sumatra, Nov 17 (Antara) - The poverty alleviation program carried out by the government so far was expected to lower the poverty rate by 5-6 percent in 2019, according to social affairs minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa. "The government does not only provide assistance, but organizes many other programs in effort to reduce the poverty by 5-6 percent in 2019," the minister said here on Sunday. During her working visit in the North Sumatra provincial city of Medan on the day, Khofifah handed assistance to three families in Jalan Tangku II Medan Tembung. Part of the government assistance, according to her is the irrigation improvement program in agriculture and community development. The minister further said that the "magic cards," namely the Indonesia Health Card (KIS), the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) and the Prosperous Family Card (KKS) were aimed to accelerate the poverty alleviation. Previously, Khofifah said, the magic cards, were funded by the state budget. "The cards have not been funded by Company Social Responsibility (CSR)," Parawansa stated here on Saturday. The minister revealed that the launch of the KIS, KIP and KKS programs were disputed by the legislature. "So the cards were implemented using funds from the 2014 state budget. They have been approved by the House (of Representatives). If you want to know the budget of the KIS, you can check with the Ministry of Health, while the Ministry of Education can provide you the budget of the KIP," Parawansa affirmed. The minister further noted that even though the KKS program was related to social affairs, it required Rp6.4 trillion as funds from the State General Treasury. Of the total funding required, some Rp6.2 trillion was utilized to print the cards and Rp199 billion for their distribution.