Head of National Family Planning Coordinating Agency, dr. Hasto Wardoyo, Sp.OG (K), has earned the Universitas Gadjah Mada Award for his dedication in community service. The award was presented by Rector of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) during the 70th anniversary of UGM on Thursday (19/12) in Grha Sabha Pramana.
The same award is also presented to Prof. Murdijati Gardjito, a culinary expert from UGM, that has documented Nusantara foods.
Secretary to Rector of UGM, Drs. Gugup Kismono, MBA., Ph.D, said the award presented to both Hasto Wardoyo and Mudijati Gardjito was for their dedication in social affairs and they have applied their knowledge for the interest of society.
“Both have made a great service in conducting each of community service duties so they deserved to get the award,” he said.
To journalists Hasto expressed his happiness and pride for the award due to his roles while being Regent of Kulonprogo. He said he would like to dedicate the award to the people of Kulon Progo who had taught him how to alleviate poverty by working together (gotong royong). “I learned that poverty could be alleviated by working together in Kulonprogo. In medical science, there’s the notion that a disease can heal by itself, so is poverty. It can be eliminated by the impoverished people themselves,” he said.
As is known, Hasto previously was regent of Kulonprogo for the term of 2011-2016 and 2016-2019 before he was appointed by President Joko Widodo as Head of National Family Planning Coordinating Agency on 1 July 2019.
When being a regent, he had encouraged local enterprises to produce their own bottled water, encouraging students and civil servants to wear local batik so as to develop local industry, and encouraging intensive labour projects. According to Hasto, not all can go to bid. “Not all go there, I took some of the projects to be given to the local people. Paving the road was one that we did through intensive labour. I asked businessmen to learn to give opportunities to the local people. I had been protested by the local parliamentarians, too, but eventually, they accepted,” said Hasto to Kabar UGM in 2013.
Hasto also made house renovation programme for the poor through gotong royong. He asked the haves in the regency to give initial funding, and the neighbours would help build the house.
Hasto was born in Kokap, Kulonprogo, on 30 July 1964. He took his medical studies at UGM and graduated in 1989. Next, he became a doctor in a community health centre deep in Kalimantan hinterland. Finally, he earned an award from Presiden Soeharto in 1992 as a role model. The money he earned from this award was spent for his studies as Obst Gyn at UGM until 2000. Eventually, he took tube baby specialist education and finished in 2006.