UNAIR NEWS“ To face the industrial revolution 4.0, expert on Economic SociologyProf. Bagong Suyanto viewed that we should not only push the upper middle class to move forward to follow that era.However, lower middle class society should also be a concern, especially its welfare.Because, based on existing data, there is 70 percent of Indonesian population which only have elementary-junior high education level.
High economic imbalance was also shown in data released by Oxfam Indonesia with the International NGO Forum on Indonesia Development (INFID) in February.In the release, the treasures of the four richest people in Indonesia are equal with the combined wealth of over 100 million poor people in Indonesia.It means that there is a very far gap between then communities.
In the forum of professors™ innovation exposition at 51¶¯Âþ on Thursday, November 2, Prof.Bagong alluded to a lot about government policies that lack supports to the poor.He pointed out the few programs and ideas that were oriented towards the poor.
For example, the concept ofGo Green implemented by the government of Surabaya by banning sanitary activities of its citizens by the Kali Mas river. In practice, the activities by the Kali Mas appear because the residents there have no private toilets.
Residents are prohibited to do activities in the riverbank, on the other hand, Surabaya City Government does not provide adequate facilities for them.Prof.Bagong assessed that the government has neglected its citizens.
“Officials must empathize, learnfrom the people, learn from the community.But, what we do now, we teach the poor the hard way.This city is getting more beautiful, but also marginalizes the poor, “he added.
On that occasion, Prof.Bagong also highlighted Dolly’s localization closure which was not followed by excellent policy of Surabaya City Government.The prostitution workers were given training but then they repatriate them to their hometown.
“Repatriating them was a mistake.Because, they were victims of domestic violence, also victims ofchild abuse.They will be victims again if they went home.This is a proof that the city government does not understand the root of the problem, “he said.
According to Prof.Bagong, the Indonesian government’s excellent policy for urban poverty alleviation that has been realized is the Sub-district Development Program (KDP) and the Settlement Quality Improvement Program (P2KP).
Prof.Bagong is a professor of economic sociology from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) UNAIR.He was inaugurated as professor in July 2017. In addition to teaching at FISIP UNAIR, he often writes in the mass media and conducts research on sociology, children, and poverty.(*)
Author: Binti Q. Masruroh
Editor: Feri Fenoria
