“The number of beneficiaries has reached 5,560,648 and only Rp5 trillion (USD1 = around Rp16,191) of the budget has been utilized as of June (2025),” Coordinating Minister for Food, Zulkifli Hasan, said during a meeting on the acceleration of the program here on Thursday.
He informed that his ministry is currently discussing measures to expedite free meals distribution with other ministries and agencies, considering that President Prabowo Subianto wants the program to be accelerated and expanded.
“We have been told to accelerate it so that more children can enjoy nutritious meals,” he said.
He further said that by the end of the year, the program is targeting to reach 82.9 million beneficiaries, with a total budget of Rp121 trillion.
Related news: BGN issues guidelines for free meals program supervision
Launched on January 6, 2025, the free meals program is one of the main programs initiated by President Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka for their 2024–2029 term.
Through the program, the government aims to improve the nutritional status of children under five, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and schoolchildren up to the high school level.
According to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), as of June 22, at least 1,837 nutritional fulfillment service units (SPPG) have been made operational in almost all provinces. They have absorbed 72,521 workers for preparing and distributing the free meals.
The agency has issued the Norms, Standards, Procedures, and Criteria (NSPK) document as an operational guideline to all SPPGs to strengthen the program’s safety supervision.
The step was taken to prevent food poisoning related to the MBG program as well as develop a layered supervision system, routine training, and cross-sectoral cooperation to ensure the quality, safety, and continuity of the program across Indonesia.
Related news: BGN enforces financial transparency in free meals program
Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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