ASI Survey: Public Agrees MBG Programme Should Continue

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Arus Survei Indonesia (ASI) institute said the majority of the public still wants the continuation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme, which is one of the priority programmes of the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

This is reflected in the results of a national survey in which 51.5 percent of the public stated they agree the MBG programme should be continued (a combination of 12.3 percent strongly agree and 39.2 percent somewhat agree).

Meanwhile, 45.4 percent of respondents stated they disagree with the programme’s continuation. That figure is a combination of 29.6 percent somewhat dissatisfied and 15.8 percent strongly disagree. Only 3.3 percent of respondents said they did not know or did not answer.

“Looking at the survey results, the majority of the public still agrees that the Free Nutritious Meals programme should be continued. The margin is indeed not very wide, but public support is still above the level of disapproval,” said Executive Director of Arus Survei Indonesia, Ali Rif’an, in Jakarta on Sunday.

Ali said the figure shows that the MBG programme still has relatively greater public support compared with those who want the programme discontinued.

According to Ali, the finding shows that MBG is still seen as a programme that has relevance to the needs of the public.

However, the sizeable proportion of the public who disagree is also a note for the government to continue evaluating the programme’s implementation.

“On one hand there is majority support, but on the other hand the number who disagree is also quite significant. This is certainly a note that the programme’s continuation needs to be accompanied by evaluation and improvement so that its benefits are increasingly felt by the public,” he said.

Ali assessed that public support for the continuation of a government programme is ultimately greatly influenced by how the programme is implemented and directly felt by the public.

“What matters is not only that the programme is continued, but the quality of its implementation. When the public feels real benefits, support for the programme will certainly grow stronger,” said Ali.

Also present at the event was Trisakti University Public Policy Expert Prof. Trubus Rahardiansah, who took part in the discussion during the presentation of the survey results and evaluation of the government’s priority programmes.

The release of the Arus Survei Indonesia survey is part of a national research project themed “Evaluation of the Performance & Priority Programmes of the Prabowo-Gibran Administration.”

The survey was conducted on 23–29 July 2026 nationally across 38 provinces in Indonesia through face-to-face interviews. The sample size used was 1,200 respondents, with sampling carried out using a multistage random sampling method and a margin of error (MoE) of ±2.9 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.