MOJOKERTO – The Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions (Mendes PDT), Yandri Susanto, attended the Radar Mojokerto Awards 2026 in Mojokerto City on Tuesday evening (July 7, 2026).

Minister Yandri noted that the Ministry he leads has established an Octahelix Collaboration framework to accelerate rural development across Indonesia. One of the vital pillars of this framework involves actively engaging the mass media.

"Mass media outlets like Jawa Pos Radar Mojokerto are deeply crucial in this current social media era because they have proven their ability to deliver verified, credible news that the public can rely on as a trusted guide," Minister Yandri stated.

Minister Yandri also highly praised Radar Mojokerto for continuously featuring a daily dedicated rubric focusing entirely on village affairs. He lauded this initiative as extraordinary, revealing that Radar Mojokerto will be presented with a special award during the upcoming National Village Day commemoration to honor its dedication to cross-sectoral collaboration.

"We must ensure that this collaborative network functions exceptionally well," Minister Yandri emphasized.

Villages have now been positioned as active subjects of national development, placed under the 6th Asta Cita (Aspiration) of the administration: "Building from the Village and from the Bottom-Up for Economic Equality and Poverty Eradication." To translate this aspiration into concrete results, the Ministry has rolled out the "12 Strategic Actions to Build Villages, Build Indonesia."

These 12 Strategic Actions align closely with the 17 Village Competition categories organized by Jawa Pos Radar Mojokerto, which include Tourism Villages, Drug-Free Villages, Climate-Resilient Villages, and Green Economy Villages.

Furthermore, Minister Yandri extended his congratulations to the village heads who won accolades at the Radar Mojokerto Awards 2026. He expressed hope that their achievements would serve as an inspiration to be replicated across the 75,266 villages throughout Indonesia.

"The success stories of these village heads must be widely disseminated through trusted mass media channels, one of which is Jawa Pos Radar Mojokerto," Minister Yandri stated.

Minister Yandri also called on all parties to collectively build rural areas by actively participating in the Ministry’s priority initiatives. These include Thematic Villages—such as Catfish Villages, Carp Fish Villages, Egg-Laying Poultry Villages, and Tourism Villages—extending all the way to Export Villages.

"Currently, our villages are fully capable of exporting their premier local commodities overseas, reaching 49 destination countries," Minister Yandri revealed.

During the event, Minister Yandri presented an award to Special Staff Member Muhammad Afif Zamroni, honoring him as the Pioneer of the Pesantren-Based 12 Strategic Actions for Village Building.

The prestigious event was also attended by National Muslim Figure KH Asep Syaifudin Chalim, the Regent of Mojokerto Muhammad Al Barra, the Mayor of Mojokerto Ika Puspitasari, the Director of Jawa Pos Radar Mojokerto M Nurkholis, the Mojokerto Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), and the award-winning village heads.

Accompanying Minister Yandri at the ceremony were the Director General of Village and Rural Development Nugroho Setijo Nagoro, Head of the Information Development Agency Mulyadin Malik, and Special Staff Member Muhammad Afif Zamroni.

Foto: Taufik/Kemendes PDT 
Teks: Firman/Kemendes PDT