Dudung Abdurachman Says Children from Affluent Families May Not Receive Free Nutritious Meals

Chief of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Dudung Abdurachman has affirmed that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme will undergo a sharpening of its target, meaning children from affluent families will not be included as beneficiaries. This step aligns with the National Nutrition Agency’s (BGN) ongoing effort to refocus the programme so that aid is precisely targeted. Dudung indicated that schools in urban areas with strong economic backgrounds would be strictly evaluated. According to Dudung, the government’s efficiency drive is not solely about cutting budget values but ensuring nutritional interventions are directed to groups that genuinely need them. The government will reassess the composition of recipients at schools deemed to have relatively better economic conditions. He stated emphatically that if certain groups do not require the assistance, such as the children of wealthy parents, they will not receive it. Similarly, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Nanik S. Deyang stated that her agency is reorganising beneficiary data. Currently, approximately 63 million people are listed in the initial registry, but this number will continue to be evaluated. Nanik assessed that children in schools with established facilities and economic conditions generally already receive good nutritional intake from home. Therefore, government nutritional support will be directed more towards those experiencing food vulnerability. She concluded that wealthy schools likely do not need the MBG programme, as pupils there probably have better nutrition at home, and support will be redirected to beneficiaries who genuinely require nutritional intervention.