He proposed the budget increase during a limited meeting on the program, which was led by President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on Friday.
"We conveyed that Rp100 trillion is sufficient to provide food to all the 82.9 million beneficiaries," he told the press after the meeting.
He said that during the meeting, President Prabowo called for the acceleration of free meals provision based on several reports from the public about children not getting the meals even after 10 days of the program's implementation.
According to Hindayana, with the current budget of Rp71 trillion, all existing target beneficiaries cannot be reached.
The reports from the public, he said, raised the President's concerns. Thus, the limited meeting not only discussed the program's evaluation, but also sought solutions to expedite its implementation to cover more beneficiaries.
He said that, based on the BGN's calculations, the Rp71 trillion program budget is only sufficient to reach 17.5 million beneficiaries until September 2025. Therefore, an additional budget is needed.
The BGN head affirmed that the President has also called for solid synergy between ministries and agencies to accelerate the free meals program.
The Indonesian government officially launched the Free Nutritious Meals program on January 6, 2025.
Through the program, the government aims to enhance the nutritional intake of children under five, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and schoolchildren up to the high school level.
In its first phase, namely January–April 2025, the program will target 3 million beneficiaries, and in the next stage from April to August 2025, it will cover 6 million beneficiaries.
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Translator: Livia Kristianti, Raka Adji
Editor: Primayanti
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