BGN Reviews Free Nutritious Meal Programme to Prioritise Needy Groups

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has stated that it is still reviewing the possibility that children from financially capable families may no longer be recipients of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. “We are still reviewing it. There has indeed been discourse in that direction, but we are still studying it,” said Deputy Head of BGN Trenggono after a working meeting with Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday. Trenggono did not detail the future criteria for MBG beneficiaries, including the specific economic deciles or types of schools. However, he emphasised that the programme would be prioritised for groups in need. According to him, the study is targeted for completion within one month, alongside an evaluation of other aspects of the programme’s implementation, in accordance with the deadline set by President Prabowo Subianto. “The results will be delivered once our review is complete. We are still conducting the study for now,” he said. It is known that President Prabowo Subianto has instructed his staff to review the targeting of the MBG programme so that it is prioritised for groups in need, including communities in lower economic deciles and regions prone to stunting. Deputy Head of BGN Agustina Arumsari said the President requested that all input regarding the programme’s implementation be reviewed before the government makes a decision. “He listened to all the input from the various meeting participants present; there were various proposals,” Agustina said after meeting the President at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (15/7). According to her, the President directed that the programme be more focused on groups of people who truly need it. “Those that need to be made efficient, who no longer need to receive the MBG programme, please do not receive it anymore. But those in the lower deciles, in underdeveloped regions, in areas with high stunting prevalence, please provide it to them,” she said. This directive, Agustina added, serves as the basis for the BGN to improve the implementation of the MBG programme, which reaches millions of beneficiaries.