APSN | Rp 45 billion to be allocated for Defending the State program: Ministry

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Rp 45 billion to be allocated for Defending the State program: Ministry

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2015

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Jakarta – The Defense Ministry's Defending the State directorate general, Muhammad Faisal, said on Thursday that the Defending the State program, through which the government aimed to recruit 100 million personnel within 10 years, would be covered with the ministry's budget.

Citing the ministry's calculations, he said, the Defending the State program would cost around Rp 45 billion (US$3.3 million) and this budget would be allocated to train cadres in 45 regencies in Indonesia.

"For their trainers, 70 percent will be from civil institutions while the remaining 30 percent would be from the Indonesian Military [TNI]," said Faisal as quoted by tempo.co in Jakarta. He said as many as 100 people from each regency would be trained as Defending the State cadres.

Faisal said the Defending the State program had long been initiated by the Defense Ministry. He confirmed that the program had had an umbrella law in a defense minister regulation (Permen) and was already approved by the House of Representatives.

"Even several House members have expressed their interests as sources in the program. If the program has not yet been approved, how could they make budgetary allocations? In terms of budget issues, all programs must first have approval from the House," said Faisal.

As earlier reported, the Defense Ministry was scheduled to launch the Defending the State program on Thursday. It is targeted that 4,500 cadres would attend the Defending the State program this year. For one month, they will receive training that will be centralized in a designated area. In the program, all participants will receive materials, focused on environment, education, professional development and social environmental issues.

Faisal said for the education sector, recruited cadres for the Defending the State program would be teachers and lecturers. For the professional development sector, he said, recruited cadres would cover professionals from all types of professions. For social environmental issues, cadres should be recruited and provided with training including society leaders and organizations.

Earlier, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu confirmed that the budget the government would use to realize its Defending the State program would be from the ministry's budget, not from the State Budget (APBN). (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/22/rp-45b-be-allocated-defending-state-program-ministry.html.