Bogus! 6 Million Duplicate Data Entries Found for Free Nutritious Meal Recipients, Sudaryono Vows Action

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The government has discovered around 6 million duplicate data entries during the process of updating the beneficiary list for the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. The finding means the provisional number of beneficiaries for next year is estimated to be around 63 million people, pending the completion of data validation.

Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Sudaryono stressed that the reduction in the number of beneficiaries is not due to a cut in the programme, but rather the result of cross-ministerial and institutional data screening to ensure no single person is recorded more than once.

“For example, a child is registered at an MTS (Madrasah Tsanawiyah) but is also a student at an Islamic boarding school, or they attend junior high school within the boarding school, counted in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education data as a student, and then also recorded as a santri at the boarding school. So there are duplicates, and we are tidying all of that up,” said Sudaryono when met after a Limited Coordination Meeting (Rakortas) at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs office in Jakarta, Thursday (6/8/2026).

He also confirmed that his agency, together with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), the Ministry of Population and Family Development/BKKBN, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, is currently matching data on prospective MBG beneficiaries for next year so that there are no more cases of duplicate beneficiaries.

“Today’s meeting ensures that all data systems from many ministries are talking to each other, so that we truly find that there is no double identity,” he said.

When asked about the number of duplicate data entries found, Sudaryono said the figure reached around 6 million records, which are still being verified.

“The number is around 6 million, we are screening them,” he said.

Previously, Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan, also known as Zulhas, revealed that the provisional target for MBG beneficiaries next year is estimated to reach around 63 million people. However, this figure is still provisional because the data matching process is ongoing.

“The beneficiaries are approximately 63 million people. That is after refocusing… Yes, after refocusing… but this is still provisional, because we need up to 2 months for the final data. But today we already have a figure of around 63 million people, though still plus or minus,” said Zulhas during a press conference.

The government has assured that the data matching process for prospective beneficiaries is being carried out to ensure that MBG recipients are truly targeted correctly and that no duplicate identities occur in the data collection.