BGN Explains Rp 5.7 Billion Budget for Zoom Meeting Subscription

The National Nutrition Agency has disbursed a budget of Rp 5.7 billion for subscribing to a Zoom Meeting licence during April to December 2026. BGN Head Dadan Hindayana stated that the budget is necessary to support the coordination needs of various stakeholders at central and regional levels in implementing the free nutritious meals or MBG programme. “To support the implementation of the free nutritious meals programme, which requires extensive coordination, uniform delivery of technical instructions, and education for various stakeholders,” said Dadan in his statement on the BGN website, quoted on Saturday, 25 April 2026. The video conferencing service is managed by the BGN Data and Information Centre with a capacity for 5,000 active users and able to accommodate up to 50,000 participants in a single virtual meeting session. According to Dadan, all personnel within the BGN structure use the facility, from high-level executives, mid-level leaders, administrative officials to heads of regional nutrition fulfilment service units (SPPG). Dadan emphasised that the success of the MBG project is heavily influenced by the effectiveness of stakeholder coordination through meetings, policy socialisation and technical guidelines, guidance for implementers, and programme evaluation. On that basis, the allocation of Rp 5.7 billion is considered commensurate to facilitate virtual conferences over nine months. “With such substantial capacity support, BGN can reach tens of thousands of participants at once, including implementers in various regions who need direct guidance from the centre,” he said. Dadan explained that digital communication facilities with large capacity are needed to ensure alignment of information across all levels of MBG implementation, as this presidential priority programme involves various parties. He assessed that the procurement for purchasing online meeting licences is an effort by BGN to ensure all implementers understand the same directives, guidelines, and standards. “We want to ensure that messages, directives, and implementation guidelines for the programme are received intact by implementers in various regions. This need is part of the work system to maintain the quality of programme implementation,” said this IPB University entomology expert. Previously, the anomaly in allocating Rp 5.7 billion for Zoom Meeting needs by BGN drew attention after being revealed by the Instagram account @voxarea. Based on a search on Inaproc—the central national procurement portal managed by the Government Goods/Services Procurement Policy Agency (LKPP)—a procurement for renting a Zoom Meeting licence with a budget of 5.79 billion was found. This procurement was criticised because the budget used had a significant difference from the official prices of the Zoom Meeting application according to the website. For example, the pro category video conferencing licence sets a rate of Rp 226 thousand per month for a capacity of 100 people per meeting with a duration of 30 hours. Then, the business category licence charges Rp 249 thousand every month for 300 participants, and the highest enterprise category where price information is not listed.