BGN Cleans Up Data System to Ensure No Duplicate Identities for Free Nutritious Meals Programme

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is tidying up and continuously integrating cross-ministerial and institutional data systems to ensure there are no duplicate identities among recipients of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. BGN Head Sudaryono explained that some children are recorded in multiple databases, such as being listed as a student by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and as a santri by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and these data discrepancies are being corrected. During a limited coordination meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Food, Sudaryono stated that his team is in the process of reducing approximately six million duplicate data entries by coordinating with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, the Ministry of Population and Family Development/BKKBN, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the Ministry of Health to ensure all databases are interconnected. He also noted that some kitchens have been operating for a long time without completing the Hygiene and Sanitation Eligibility Certificate (SLHS), and the agency suspects that non-compliance with hygiene standards poses a risk; therefore, a deadline of 10 August has been set for compliance, after which an investigation will be launched. Sudaryono further revealed that the agency is accelerating the construction and activation of Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions as part of improving MBG programme governance, with a target completion within one week. This acceleration, driven by a data-based approach, aims to ensure the programme reaches the areas most in need, including Papua, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Maluku, and other 3T regions. He emphasised that prioritising SPPG construction in these areas is crucial because communities there experience high stunting prevalence, and the original one-month target was shortened to one week to ensure they can immediately benefit from the MBG programme.