REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MALANG -- Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said village funds provided by the central government will gradually be increased and upgraded in accordance with the stipulated law.

"If its implementation is good, the village fund will gradually be increased, now it is still in the process of reinforcement in the villages," said the minister during her address at the 55th anniversary of Brawijaya University (UB), Malang, East Java, Friday.

She said every budget provided for villages should be beneficial to the community and should reduce various diversions.

Indrawati said the village budget funds in 2018, already approved by the government, amounted to Rp60 trillion. Villages that are still categorized as poor will get much larger funding, up to Rp3.5 billion. Villages that are already more advanced will each get a budget disbursement of about Rp800 million to Rp900 million, she noted.

However, she pointed out , the disbursement of the village funds is not always in the form of money, but also in the form of Family of Hope Program (PKH), Family Rice Assistance (rastra), mission aids (scholarship for less able students ), Kartu Indonesia Pintar/Smart Card (KIP), and Healthy Indonesia Card (KIS).

Earlier, the Minister of Village, Disadvantaged Regions Development and Transmigration Eko Putro Sandjojo said the government will enhance labor-intensive programs across the country in 2018 through village fund disbursement, in an attempt to boost the economy in rural areas.

"The government would enhance its labor-intensive programs through village funds in 2018. Some 30 percent of the village funds would be allocated to the program," Eko Putro Sandjojo revealed in a statement here on Wednesday.

Out of the Rp60 trillion (US$4.4 billion) of village funds, some Rp18 trillion (US$1.3 billion) will be allocated to labor-intensive program, he stated.

The program is projected to absorb a 5-6 million workforce in regions that will be involved in various development works.

The projects, to be funded by the village funds, include construction of basic infrastructure, and development of four priority programs.

The labor-intensive programs will be run based on a joint decree involving four ministries, namely the Finance Ministry; Village, Disadvantaged Regions Development, and Transmigration Ministry; Home Affairs Ministry; and the National Development Planning Ministry.

The programs are expected to help reduce poverty rates in rural areas.

The village funds in 2018 will focus on creating job opportunities for villagers through labor-intensive programs and self-managed development of infrastructure.

"The president has noted that the village fund should be used, among others, to create jobs in villages through the labor-intensive programs," the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani said earlier in December.

At least 30 percent of the fund must be used to create jobs in villages and pay wages for workers who are local villagers.

The projects will be undertaken under the ministerial programs in one thousand villages in 100 districts/cities.

Nine ministries and state institutions will also be involved in the programs.

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