The Centre of the People's Power (Indonesian: Pusat Tenaga Rakyat, Putera) was a propaganda organization established by the Empire of Japan during their occupation of the Dutch East Indies.
[3] This was under tight control from Japan but appointed four major Indonesian figures as leaders, namely Sukarno, Hatta, Ki Hajar Dewantara and Kyai Hajji Mas Mansoer.
[5] The establishment of Putera aimed to attract the sympathy of the Indonesian people to help Japan win the war against the Allies.
Meanwhile, the situation in the countryside worsened, partly through Japanese army agents working through Indonesian civil servants to solicit rice from farmers to control low prices, and worse still to recruit so-called romusha (literally "labor activists").
Thousands of these forced laborers were sent from Java to the most remote areas of the Japanese occupation, and a large number died in the war.