At Cabinet Meeting, Prabowo Baffled by Those Calling Free Nutritious Meals a Waste

President Prabowo Subianto has expressed bafflement at parties who consider the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme a waste. He made the remarks during a briefing at a Plenary Cabinet Session at the State Palace, Central Jakarta, on Monday, 20 July 2026. “Providing nutritious meals for Indonesian children, pregnant women, and the elderly is considered wasteful,” Prabowo said in his briefing. According to Prabowo, such accusations are contradictory given the budget leakage that has occurred for decades without any in-depth investigation. He emphasised that one of the goals of the Free Nutritious Meals programme is to address the stunting problem experienced by Indonesian children. “It is considered wasteful, yet thousands of trillions that evaporated, that left Indonesian soil every year for 34 years, drew no comment, no experts protested, no investigation,” he stated. “We want to feed children when clearly at least a quarter of our children are stunted, and we are accused of wastefulness,” Prabowo concluded. Earlier, it was reported that President Prabowo Subianto was scheduled to hold a plenary cabinet session on Monday, 20 July 2026. Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi explained that the cabinet meeting’s discussions essentially cover all areas of government. However, he added, on certain occasions there are specific issues discussed through separate mechanisms. “All fields are discussed continuously. It’s just that sometimes a special mechanism is needed,” Prasetyo Hadi told reporters. Nevertheless, he confirmed that the main focus of every cabinet meeting this time is the implementation of government programmes. “What is specifically discussed is certainly accelerating programme implementation,” he said. The Gerindra Party politician did not deny there would be evaluations. He stressed that evaluation is a normal practice carried out not only during Plenary Cabinet Sessions but also in other meetings. “Of course, the main thing in every meeting is certainly programme evaluation,” he explained.