2014 Raskin Award, Award for Local Government Participation

09 October 2014

The third Raskin Awards were held today (9/10) in Bulog’s office, Jakarta, having been previously held in 2008 and 2009. Data verification and clarification in the field was carried out between 30 September and 2 October 2014 and by several assessment teams: Central Raskin Tikor, Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare, Bulog, National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K), Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and ministries/agencies (K/L). The selection of award recipients was conducted in several stages, namely, desk evaluation, questionnaire content, interviews with targeted households (RTS) and a descriptive evaluation of performance over the past five years, which was conducted by the city/district government implementing Raskin.

Initial assessments were made of the top 50 districts/cities. In-depth assessments, which considered other Raskin-related aspects, were then made of the 18 districts/cities that were nominees for the 2014 Anugerah Raskin Award.

The results were then analysed and verified in a comprehensive interview that determined the winner. The assessment for the 2014 Raskin Award was based on four main aspects: Program Management, Local Government Participation, Raskin Programme Accuracy and Community Participation.

The Raskin Award is given to districts and city governments that have demonstrated success implementation of the Raskin programme. Raskin, or subsidised rice for low income households, has proved effective in reducing the burden of food expenditure on poor households. Raskin was first launched in 1998, and continues to be refined in terms of planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.

"The assessments have been ongoing for five years, and are deemed to have carried out, for the securement and success of government programmes," said Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono in his speech. He also hopes that the award will stimulate improvements in performance elsewhere in the implementation of Raskin. According to Laksono, the programmes would have been difficult to implement without the participation and support of local governments. The award was presented by the Ministry of People's Welfare to the local governments of cities/districts that have successfully implemented Raskin.

The award winners were divided into several categories:

• General Category - District:

1. Natuna, Riau Islands
2. West Kutai, East Kalimantan
3. Kediri, East Java

• General Category - City:

1. Bandung, West Java Province
2. City of Sabang, Aceh Province
3. City of Gorontalo, Gorontalo Province

• Special categories:

1. Best Local Government Participation: Batam Province, Riau Islands --- allocated a relatively large budgets to support Raskin implementation, so as to ensure the successful implementation and smooth running of the programme, as well as meet the food needs of the poor.
2. Best Public Participation: Tabanan district, Bali Province --- successfully mobilised community participation by "Lian Banjar" (village head). The Involvement of Lian Banjar is an excellent innovation because it directly involves the community in Raskin distribution.
3. Best Programme for Transparency: City of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan - very good at updating targeted household (RTS) data, which is a leading indicator of Correct Targeting for the Raskin Programme. RTS data was obtained from TNP2K, printed and displayed in the mass media, so as to increase the potential for public response. As such, the public was able to see those receiving Raskin, thereby making it more effective.
4. Best Raskin Distribution Innovation: Mimika District, Papua - developed innovative Raskin distribution method. Raskin was still distributed properly, smoothly, on time, and for the correct price, despite difficult “heavy and difficult geographical and topographical conditions, as well as socio-cultural conditions of communities prone to conflict (e.g. inter-tribal wars).