Pekanbaru, Riau, (Antarariau.com) - The Social Affairs Ministry plans to redesign the national Rice-for-the-poor (Raskin) program in an effort to overcome the shortage of rice.
"The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has requested that the Raskin system be redesigned," Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawnsa, said on Saturday.
The minister said there are several other institutions involved in the process, including the Ministry of Social Affairs and state-owned logistics board Bulog. They are now conducting an assessment following the request made by KPK.
They will discuss how to redesign the system in such a way that it does not affect the countrys food resilience and find solutions to rice scarcity before the harvest season.
The shortage of rice in the market has occurred during the past several weeks in a number of regions.
Parawansa said redesigning the system will not transform it into other forms of assistance to the poor, such as e-money. However, the minister did not deny the emergence of the idea during discussions.
The minister added that in order to determine the current condition of the poor, she had visited several regions to make direct observations in the field.
Last month, the minister also appealed to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to immediately distribute rice to the poor.
"In accordance with instructions issued by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Bulog should immediately distribute rice to the poor," the minister had said on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
While overseeing Bulogs rice warehouse on Monday in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Minister Khofifa stated that around 95 percent of Raskin should be distributed evenly.
"From my observations in the field, I see that the distribution is almost equal, but is carried out every month and the amount received by the poor is not as per plan," the minister noted, adding that the quality of Raskin was satisfactory.
She noted that the government is currently evaluating the Raskin program to address the uneven distribution, which has not been as per the set target.
The Social Affairs Minister remarked that Vice President Jusuf Kalla has instructed Bulog to begin distributing some 300 thousand tons of rice to the poor from Tuesday, in a bid to control the soaring prices of rice.
The Vice President is of the opinion that the surging prices of rice are a result of the shortfall in supply.
Kalla said 500 thousand tons of rice for the poor should have been distributed, but in reality, only 140 thousand tons had been handed out.
Consequently, the Vice President stated that the uneven distribution and the shortage in supply had led to a spike in rice prices in numerous regions.
Govt To Rearrange Raskin Program: Minister
