DENPASAR, INDONESIA, March 3, 2024 (nusabali.com) Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI) Bali responded positively to the Ministry of Religion’s (Kemenag) plan to make the Office of Religious Affairs (Kantor Urusan Agama- KUA) a service center for all religions. As is well known, so far the KUA only performs services for Muslims, while other people use services at other institutions such as the Civil Registry Service. Chairman of the PHDI Bali Daily Management I Nyoman Kenak appreciated the Ministry of Religion’s plan to open the KUA to serve all religious communities, including Hindus. However, he said that synchronization was needed with the system that had been running so far. “A lot of things need to be synchronized so that new problems don’t occur. If we are invited by the Ministry of Religion, we are ready to help,” he confirmed on Saturday, March 2nd. Kenak added that his organization was ready to be invited at any time by the Ministry of Religion to discuss the policy preparations proposed by the Minister of Religion, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.
The Ministry of Religion has mapped out 40 KUA services that are ready to serve people of all religions in Indonesia, including marriage registration, recording, issuing letters of recommendation, receiving data, as well as correcting and changing marriage data, issuing status certificates and pre-marital guidance, consultation with Buddhist, Muslim and Christian families, the issuance of identities of places of worship and letters of recommendation for assistance for places of worship. These will also be included in services at the KUA for all religions. Minister Yaqut said that this transformation program of the KUA could increase tolerance and harmony between religious communities in Indonesia. KUA will be a comfortable place for all people to get the religious services they need. By developing the KUA functionality, Yaqut hopes that marriage and divorce data can be better integrated. Various facilities, such as the hall at the KUA centers, can also be used as a temporary place of worship for non-Muslims who still have difficulty setting up their own house of worship due to economic or social factors.
In Bali itself, the existence of KUA is spread across several sub-districts in 9 districts/cities. There are 35 KUA offices recorded on the Island of the Gods. Kenak said PHDI Bali would prepare competent human resources, if needed, to be placed in KUA offices spread across Bali. “If counseling is envisioned (at KUA centers) for members of each religion, PHDI will prepare counseling staff (for the Hindu community),” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Village Community and Population Empowerment Service, Civil Registry of Bali Province, Putu Anom Agustina, said that his department was ready to synchronize (their services with KUA) if the Central Government policy was implemented. “We are only administrators, we will just follow if there are changes to the law,” he said. He explained that so far the Department of Population and Civil Registration (Disdukcapil) has been the institution that serves non-Muslim citizens to register their marriages, after being legalized by their respective religious leaders.
https://www.nusabali.com/berita/162464/phdi-bali-apresiasi-dan-sambut-positif