JAKARTA – The Ministry of Home Affairs together with related ministries/agencies are committed to supporting the Village Governance Strengthening and Developing Program (P3PD).
Minister of Home Affairs Muhammad Tito Karnavian said P3PD is one of President Joko Widodo’s visions in developing Indonesia from the edge, the villages and border areas.
He further explained that the government had taken a number of steps to strengthen villages, one of which was issuing Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages as well as a number of its derivative regulations.
The government also formed the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT) which specifically deals with matters of villages.
Another strengthening step is taken by budgeting the Village Fund to help villages implement their programs.
“There are rules in the Village Law, village heads are directly elected by the people–it shows there’s democracy in the village, there is election,” said Tito during the 2023 P3PD National Kick Off Coordination Meeting held at the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel, Jakarta a while ago.
“It’s not just the village head, there are also village officials, its council–the Village Consultative Body. So there are so many big changes that have taken place in the village and we think the president’s good vision is very good,” he continued.
The government, he added, has its own state administrative management to take care of the village governance.
And to support it, it is necessary to strengthen governance in the village, especially the capability of village heads, village officials and the Village Consultative Body.
Strengthening the capability will be carried out through various trainings targeting around 75 thousand village heads with budget assistance provided by the World Bank.
Therefore, on the same occasion, Tito also thanked the World Bank for the assistance provided.
“Since there is a village program that has a direct impact on the community and, (even though) there is an election context here, I ask all of us involved in this training including speakers not to lead to practical politics–about who supports who, who are the candidates. This program is purely to strengthen the capacity of the village heads, “he said.
In line with this, the Commander Indonesian National Armed Forces Yudo Margono who also attended the event said that village strengthening could be done by developing Indonesia from the edge by strengthening regions and villages within the framework of a unitary state.
This is in accordance with President Joko Widodo’s 3rd Nawacita. Moreover, most of the territory of Indonesia is in rural areas which have extraordinary potential in terms of natural resources and human resources.
He further explained that the Village Law had changed the paradigm of the village from an object to being the subject and spearhead of development.
The law also realizes decentralization down to the village level in order to eliminate national development gaps.
Therefore, strong village leaders are needed to keep all villages moving forward within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).
“The village government has the autonomy to plan and direct village development problems, so it is very strategic if it is also directed to support defense,” he said.
