Jakarta — Indonesian government plans to begin piloting the distribution of two major social assistance programs through Red-White Village Cooperatives (KDMP) starting in August, Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf said on Wednesday, 15 July 2026, shifting recipients away from direct bank transfers toward cooperative-run service counters.
Saifullah, widely known as Gus Ipul, said the plan covers the Non-Cash Food Assistance program (BPNT) and the Family Hope Program (PKH), Indonesia's two main cash-based social aid schemes, both currently disbursed through bank transfers.
"Of course, going forward, we will try to have this distributed through village cooperatives because the cooperatives will have service counters, one of which will be a State-Owned Bank Association counter," Gus Ipul said after a limited cabinet meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at Presidential Palace in Jakarta.
Gus Ipul said the plan remained under coordination between the Social Affairs Ministry and the Cooperatives Ministry, with trials set to begin in select locations.
"It's still being consolidated. Hopefully the target, they said, is roughly August for the trial," he said, adding that the policy follows a directive from Prabowo under Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2025, which calls for accelerating the formation of village cooperatives nationwide.
Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan had earlier described the cooperatives as intended government infrastructure for distributing aid and subsidies.
"Red-White Village Cooperatives are the government's infrastructure. What for? To deliver assistance items, social aid, then subsidized goods, all of it later through the Red-White Village Cooperative," Minister Zulkifli had said.
Under the plan, aid recipients would also be encouraged to become cooperative members and sell their own products through KDMP outlets, Gus Ipul said.
According to Cooperatives Ministry data from mid-July, 15,845 KDMP units have been fully built nationwide, with 19,539 more under construction. The government is targeting completion of physical construction for 35,000 units by August.
