BGN reassesses MBG kitchen locations and beneficiary data following corruption scandal

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is currently re-evaluating data on the locations of its Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) service units (SPPG) to ensure operations align with the target beneficiaries, including regions with high stunting rates. Deputy Head of BGN Agustina Arumsari stated after a plenary cabinet session at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Monday that the previous practice of establishing SPPGs did not consider the nutritional needs of an area, merely ensuring a location could host a kitchen for the MBG programme. “So there was no attention paid to whether this is a stunting area, whether this is an area that needs to be targeted because of isolated conditions, no. They just saw there was an elementary school nearby, a junior high school nearby, and that was it. Moreover, when there were too many SPPG points, they even ended up competing with each other on the ground,” said BGN Deputy Head Agustina Arumsari. “That is the data we are currently re-examining,” she added. She highlighted that there are currently 62.7 million recorded beneficiaries, and the agency is confirming this data and categorising it into the groups most in need. This step is part of the government’s ongoing effort to improve the governance of the MBG Programme, following the Attorney General’s Office naming several former BGN leaders as suspects in an alleged corruption case related to the programme’s management for 2025-2026. Agustina previously stated that President Prabowo Subianto had instructed BGN officials to review the target beneficiaries of the MBG programme. The President requested that priority be given to groups in need and those falling into vulnerable categories, such as people in the lowest economic deciles and regions prone to stunting. Agustina Arumsari said the President wants all input regarding the implementation of the MBG programme to be studied first before the government makes a decision. “He listened to all the input from the various meeting participants, there were various proposals,” Agustina said after meeting the President at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (15/7).