Coordinating Minister Cak Imin: Free Nutritious Meals Must Prioritise the Poor in 3T Regions

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar, known as Cak Imin, has stated that the beneficiaries of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme must be precisely targeted. Cak Imin said that MBG must also deliver a tangible impact on grassroots economic empowerment, especially in the 3T (Underdeveloped, Frontier, and Outermost) regions. This is supported by the recent refinement of the MBG programme’s management governance by the government, a critical step to ensure beneficiaries are accurately identified. In the implementation of this MBG management improvement managed by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), I remind them to refer to Presidential Instruction No. 4 of 2025 concerning the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN), where underdeveloped regions, extreme poverty, poverty, and priorities that must be prioritised in providing benefits to recipients are contained within this DTSEN,” Cak Imin said during a Limited Ministerial-Level Coordination Meeting on the Implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals Programme at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Office in Jakarta on Thursday, 11 June 2026. Cak Imin stated that the government has a strong basis to ensure that the most vulnerable groups become the priority beneficiaries of the programme. Furthermore, he reminded that the implementation of MBG must also align with Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2025 concerning the Acceleration of Poverty Eradication and the Alleviation of Extreme Poverty. According to him, two key aspects are directly linked to the programme’s implementation. Firstly, MBG beneficiaries must be prioritised for the poor and extremely poor. Secondly, this programme must become part of an economic empowerment ecosystem involving low-income communities so that its benefits are not only felt as consumption aid but also open up opportunities for improved welfare. Cak Imin expressed optimism that the governance improvements being implemented would further strengthen the success of the President’s priority programme. He assessed that the combination of good intentions, proper governance, and strong leadership would form a crucial foundation to ensure the programme runs optimally. Furthermore, Cak Imin emphasised that one of the main focuses that must be continuously strengthened in the implementation of MBG is the development of a community economic empowerment ecosystem. “One of the ecosystems that is most formed is how to foster new business actors, while simultaneously stabilising prices so that profits are known from the MBG process,” he said.