Speaking to political party leaders and state officials during the National Awakening Party (PKB) anniversary celebration in Jakarta on Wednesday evening, Prabowo said he had recently received a report showing that 6.7 million people had already benefited from the program.
"The original plan was to reach 20 million beneficiaries by the end of August. But I asked, how can we accelerate this?" he said. "They reported to me, and it turns out we might be able to speed things up."
He emphasized, however, that quality must not be compromised. Kitchen coordinators, along with administrative and financial staff, need adequate training to ensure proper implementation. "And that takes time," he added.
Still, Prabowo noted that the team managing the MBG program is optimistic the target could be met ahead of schedule.
"They reported to me, 'Sir, this can be accelerated. There's a strong possibility we can reach the 20 million mark, God willing, before August 17.' After that, the numbers will keep rising. We pray and hope that by December this year, the program will reach 82.9 million beneficiaries," he said.
The president also mentioned growing international interest in Indonesia's free meals initiative.
"When I traveled abroad, many leaders asked me about it, and several even wanted to send delegations to learn how we're achieving this," he said.
"I was told by a former president of Brazil that their program reached 40 million children — but it took them 11 years,” he added, referring to ex-president Dilma Vana Rousseff.
"Indonesia now has many risk-takers — or bonek [a term meaning 'brave and determined']. Other countries needed 11 years; we're going for it in one. We aim to deliver benefits to 82.9 million people in a single year — but of course, we must prove it," Prabowo said.
Brazil’s free school lunch program — Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE) — has been running since 1955 and now provides nutritious meals to 40 million students across 155,000 public schools. In 2024, PNAE had a budget of 5.5 billion Brazilian real, or over US$996 million.
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Translator: Primayanti
Editor: Anton Santoso
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