inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Vice Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Paiman Raharjo says that the number of independent villages increased to 17,029 from the previous 174 in 2015.

Paiman notes that this significant increase was due to disbursement of Village Funds since 2015 which is supported by Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages.

According to the data of the Finance Ministry, the government has disbursed funds amounting to Rp609.68 trillion through the State Budget (APBN) for village economic development from 2015 to 2024.

The Vice Minister believes that the village fund can give a positive impact as the underdeveloped villages in Java are almost non-existent.

“Currently the underdeveloped villages are only exist in Papua, Papua Mountains, South Papua, Central Papua, North Maluku, and East Nusa Tenggara. This means that there are almost no underdeveloped villages in Java,” says Paiman.

Other than independent villages, other village status has also been going up for the past 10 years. The number of developed villages increased to 23,063 in 2024 from 3,608 in 2015. Then, the number of developing villages has increased to 24,532 in 2024 from the previous 3,608 in 2015.

Paiman says the development of villages was also supported by facilities and infrastructure development by the central government for the past 10 years, particularly village roads  as the infrastructure has now reached around 366 thousand kilometers.

The improvement of village infrastructure is also supported by the Village Fund. In addition to the infrastructure side, Paiman noted, now there are also many Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes). Village Funds also help reduce extreme poverty rates and increase food security in villages.

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