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Ganjar-Mahfud campaign promises free internet for students, SMEs
The Ganjar-Mahfud presidential campaign has vowed to provide free and equitable internet services for students and SMEs if they win in February, as part of the pair’s strategy to develop the country's education and creative industry toward accelerated growth.
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Ganjar Pranowo, the former Central Java governor and the presidential candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) visits workers on Jan. 2, 2024 at the Jaya Setia Plastik toy factory in Demak, Central Java. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
The Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD campaign promises to provide free internet access for students and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) if the presidential ticket wins the election on Feb. 14, 2024.
Muhammad Zainul Majdi, a deputy manager of the Ganjar-Mahfud National Victory Team (TPN) who is popularly known as Tuan Guru (master teacher) Bajang, said a free internet program would ensure equal digital access across the country, regardless of users’ location or economic background.
Zainul also said Ganjar did not want the people, especially students and SME entrepreneurs, to experience difficulty in accessing the internet.
“We are talking about how the demographic bonus, especially our young generation, can access the internet without being hindered by economic constraints. They can access the internet wherever they are,” he said on Wednesday during an event at the HighEnd Building in Central Jakarta, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Zainul, a former West Nusa Tenggara governor who is also part of the Perindo Party leadership, said the state would shoulder the full costs of the free internet program under the Ganjar-Mahfud administration, if the pair won the election.
He said the campaign team was still calculating the state budget allocation needed to finance all 21 programs proposed by Ganjar-Mahfud, including the free internet program, and that it had reached an estimated total fund of “around Rp 500 trillion [US$32.1 billion]”, which he said was “still very possible in our fiscal space”.
Speaking separately on Wednesday in Semarang, Central Java, Ganjar said he believed that providing a free high-speed internet service at schools was important to support development of national education and the creative industry, and that the program was part of his desire to accelerate the development of digital infrastructure for students.
