While delivering his remarks at the 17th anniversary of the Gerindra Party in Sentul, West Java, on Saturday, he said that currently, 770 thousand students are benefiting from the program.
"I was told that in the past few days, 770 thousand children (have become beneficiaries of the program). By the end of February, it will have reached 1 million (students) and so on; hopefully by the end of July, it will have reached six million students, at least," he informed.
Prabowo recounted the journey of launching the free meals program, which was rolled out simultaneously on January 6, 2025.
According to the President, the smooth running of the program is thanks to the support of his predecessor, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who established the National Nutrition Agency as the implementing agency for the program.
Prabowo said that before his inauguration as the 8th president of Indonesia in October 2024, Widodo had supported the government transition so that the program could be implemented promptly at the beginning of this year.
"The National Nutrition Agency can be this fast beyond people's expectations because we were working hard long before October, so in January, we could begin this program," he added.
The implementation of the free meals, which is among the priority programs of Prabowo's administration, is motivated by data showing that 60 percent of Indonesian children do not get complete nutrition from the food they eat.
Head of the National Nutrition Agency Dadan Hindayana said that 60 percent of Indonesian children do not consume milk because they cannot afford it—not because it is not suitable or because they are lactose intolerant.
President Prabowo explained that the free meals program will target to cover more than 85 million children as well as pregnant women by the end of 2025.
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Translator: Mentari Dwi Gayati, Livia Kristianti, Yashinta Dif
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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