August 21, 2026 | 02:41 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) regional government has lodged a protest with the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) over drastic changes in the classification of community welfare decile, which officials claim do not reflect conditions on the ground. This shift directly impacts residents' access to state aid programs.
The provincial administration has received numerous complaints from citizens who were suddenly removed from aid registries after their decile status was reclassified. Regional officials warn that this issue could trigger social unrest and distort poverty mapping and targeted poverty alleviation policies across the province.
Yogyakarta Regional Secretary Ni Made Dwi Panti Indrayanti questioned the mechanisms and criteria used by BPS in determining these classifications. She stressed that such sudden reclassifications in economic status demand explanations, as they directly impact local policies and budgetary allocations.
"We demand clarification from BPS: why the data has changed like this. What is the basis for this, given its massive impact?" Made said on Thursday, August 20, 2026.
Made also questioned whether the reclassification stems from an effort to ease the government's fiscal burden. She urged BPS to outline the grounds for the data revision so the regional administration can ensure social assistance remains properly targeted.
"Is this an attempt to reduce the budget burden, or what, that everyone's category has been bumped up?" she remarked.
The issue has drawn attention of local authorities because decile rankings dictate eligibility for various regional subsidies and welfare schemes. Made noted that the DIY regional budget funds subsidies for low-income residents categorized between deciles 1 and 5. Meanwhile, households in deciles 6 through 10 are deemed self-sufficient and capable of meeting their own needs.
Head of the Yogyakarta Social Agency Suyarno stated that decile determinations fall under the central government's jurisdiction through the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN) framework. He explained that the reclassification occurred following updates and cross-evaluations across multiple data repositories.
In addition to the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS), Socio-Economic Registration (Regsosek), and the P3KE poverty eradication census, metrics from the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) and recent economic census findings were integrated.
"Combining these data sets resulted in decile shifts that do not align with actual conditions on the ground," Suyarno said.
The Yogyakarta government followed up on its protest by holding a closed-door meeting with BPS DIY at the Kepatihan Complex on Thursday afternoon. The session focused on consolidating and aligning poverty metrics between the central statistics agency and the regional administration.
Made stated that the regional government seeks to ensure central data aligns seamlessly with the local Poverty Data System. She emphasized that data synchronization is necessary so poverty reduction initiatives do not rely solely on administrative classification, but reflect residents' lived realities.
"This data originates from the central government, not the region. So right now, we are questioning the criteria," Made said.
BPS Yogyakarta Comments
Acting Head of BPS DIY Endang Tri Wahyuningsih explained that decile ratings are derived from 41 variables and updated quarterly. Therefore, category shifts naturally happen whenever underlying indicators and datasets undergo routine updates.
Endang noted that BPS DIY provides opportunities for regional governments and citizens to adjust records through phased verification and validation channels.
"The most important thing is jointly maintaining data quality so that central and regional records complement each other," Endang remarked following the meeting.
Nevertheless, these rapid decile reclassifications have stirred growing anxiety among local residents. Many have questioned the accuracy of the new classification, pointing out that their classification changed despite no improvement in their economic conditions.
Shava, a 38-year-old freelance advertising worker from Patangpuluhan, Yogyakarta City, expressed shock upon learning of her revised decile ranking. Previously classified under decile 4, she was abruptly reassigned to decile 6 in the latest release.
"I was previously in decile 4, and suddenly, after the economic census, I was moved to decile 6," Shava said on Thursday.
The reclassification carries serious fallout, as moving up a decile directly disqualifies individuals from social assistance. Chairperson of Commission D at the Yogyakarta Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) R.B. Dwi Wahyu Budianto confirmed that his office has received thousands of complaints from anxious residents fearing the loss of government aid.
"Thousands of residents have complained about being shifted from category 4 to 6, cutting them off from assistance," Dwi said.
Dwi argued that updating poverty data requires far more than administrative processing. He urged the government to validate classification outcomes against real living conditions through direct field verification.
"If we compare system outputs against reality, there will certainly be significant gaps," he said.
The dispute over decile classifications extends far beyond database figures. When a family's status shifts from decile 4 to decile 6, the consequence is the loss of social support. Therefore, precise data collection is crucial to ensure that poverty alleviation policies do not leave vulnerable citizens behind.
Read: 5.29 Percent Growth, In This Economy?
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