"Recently, I gave input to the President-elect from the perspective of the ministry," Effendy remarked at the Children's Expression Festival here on Thursday.
According to the minister, the budget for the free lunch program, which is proposed to be reduced to Rp7,500 (approximately US$0.46) per person, is still under discussion.
"This is still in the process of maturing, but whatever the budget is, it is important to meet the health standards," he noted.
Minister Effendy stated that suggestions from various parties had been sought for this budget-cut policy.
In his input, he expressed hope that the free lunch program would align with other existing programs, such as the supplementary food program for pregnant women and additional nutritious food for toddlers.
"(This is) so that it can run sustainably with other existing programs. Currently, we have a supplementary food program for pregnant women and toddlers. We will see considerations from various parties," Effendy noted.
The issue of budget cuts for the free lunch program emerged after economist Heriyanto Irawan met with the Prabowo-Gibran Synchronization Task Force.
He revealed that the President-elect's team has been considering lowering the lunch cost.
"After communicating the budget amounting to Rp71 trillion, the President-elect's economic team is considering whether the lunch cost per day could be lowered from Rp15 thousand to Rp9 thousand or even to Rp7,500," he said.
He added that lowering the budget was considered to enable the program to reach a wider number of people.
"We can understand because they want the program to reach more people," Irawan said.
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Translator: Anita D, Kenzu
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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