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“We will include a criminal charge for identity and personal information fraud, as misdirected
aid [provided for the program participants] can cause state losses,” Rudy Salahudin, the chair
of the committee, said in a virtual presser on Monday.

KPK findings indicated that some registered participants for the program were not included in
the Manpower Ministry and Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) data of the
1.7 million workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

As of May 27, more than 1.79 million people have lost their jobs as many nonessential businesses
temporarily shut down to comply with government restrictions, according to data from the
Manpower Ministry.

With a budget of Rp 20 trillion (US$1.4 billion), the government introduced the preemployment
card in mid-April to help 5.6 million people whose jobs or small businesses were hit by the
pandemic. The government estimates that 3 million to 5.2 million people may lose their jobs
because of the severe economic impacts of the pandemic.

Participants receive Rp 600,000 monthly for four months and Rp 150,000 after filling out the
program’s survey. Each recipient also receives Rp 1 million to pay for up-skilling courses, ranging
from marketing to fishing.

However, the KPK has recently revealed irregularities in the program, from the participants’
eligibility to the appointment of eight digital platforms for the program that might not have gone
through the proper procedures for goods and services procurement.

The antigraft body reported that 250 courses under the program might lead to a potential
conflict of interest because they were offered by firms linked to the partnering platforms.

The program has also been criticized by experts for allocating too much for the online course
benefit and too little for the monthly cash assistance. So far, only around half of the program’s
roughly 680,900 participants have received cash aid, which they can get after completing at
least one course on an online learning platform, Rudy added.

“We can reduce the online course benefit, so that the [cash assistance] can be higher,” Rudy
said.

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