"The Implementation of Rice Subsidy PolicyThe economic crisis, which has debilitated Indonesia in 1997 that was followed by rice crisis has brought the impact of more descend of public purchasing power in fulfilling the basic food need. This problem threatened the food security of the people or caused the food insecurity.
In relation with this Act Number 7/1996 about Food in article 1 clause 17, mentioned that food security is the condition of food fulfillment for household that is reflected by availability of food that is sufficient both in quantity and in quality, secure, spread evenly and affordably by the people.
Next in the Rice Policy that was regulated in the President Instruction Number 9/2002, in article 5 is mandated that government had to guaranty the supply, implementation of the distribution of rice for the poor and food vulnerability. Based on that regulation then Bulog as food authority which has wide experience on supply and rice distribution, is given assignment to increase food security for all inhabitants in Republic of Indonesia region. For this purpose, the policy of subsidized rice which manifest by OPK/Raskin program was released, so rice as the basic need food can be reached by poor families.
Although, there are some deviances in the implementation of OPK/Raskin (Special Market Operation/Rice for the Poor), especially in the targeting. There are also some cases of moral hazard in the implementation of the policy. But, it has been acknowledged that the implementation of the program supposed to be the most successful programs within any Social Safety Net Programs.
From this success, this study revealed the true description of the OPK/Raskin that had been going on since 1998. The analysis of the content and the context of the policy was done to the implementation of the program. The content of the policy was the factor that influenced the outcomes of the policy when it was implemented. The context of the policy was also the factor that influenced certain social, political, and economic environment, so the implementation of the policy needed to consider the context of policy; that is the environment where the policy was to be implemented. Outcome was the final result of the policy expected to achieve. The analysis of the outcomes of the policy was done simply by comparing the output realized with the goals to be achieved from the policy.
Based on the content of the policy, the rice subsidy policy was quite easy to implement But in the context of policy, the program did not yield impact that were expected in the objective of the program. The problem come from the authority of Bulog in the determining the allocation ceiling of rice nationally which was based on the data of four families from BKKBN (National Family Planning Board).
Then, the study recommended that Bulog had to try optimally in exacerbating the targeted household, so the beneficiaries would be the true targeted individuals or groups that need the cheap rice. Moreover, the upgrading of purchasing power of the poor society would be more prioritized through some working and opportunity enhancement programs; so that in the long run, the charity-based subsidy would be less significant.
Bibliography: 31 books (1983-2003); 34 newspapers/magazines/journals (1998-2004); 4 working papers/module (1988-200X); 5 research reports (1999-2004); 3 website articles ; 5 documentations (2001-2004) ; 2 guidelines (2003&2004); 2 regulations (1996&2002)"
Depok: Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik Universitas Indonesia, 2005
