Finance Ministry records 348,071 residents in Bengkulu benefiting from free nutritious meal programme

The Ministry of Finance, through the Directorate General of Treasury (DJPb), has recorded that 348,071 residents in Bengkulu Province have benefited from the free nutritious meal programme (MBG). “As of June 2026, the realisation of the MBG programme has reached Rp247.36 billion with 348,071 beneficiaries,” said Mohamad Irfan Surya Wardhana, Head of the DJPb Regional Office for Bengkulu, in Bengkulu City on Friday. He stated that the programme’s achievement of 348,071 beneficiaries represents concrete steps towards fulfilling nutritional needs and improving the quality of human resources in Bengkulu Province. Irfan noted that the MBG programme is currently being expanded to support public nutrition and enhance human resource quality. He added that alongside the programme’s expansion, the government is strengthening aspects of governance, oversight, and compliance with food safety standards so that the benefits of state finances can be felt by the public in an optimal, safe, and accountable manner. Irfan remarked that the implementation of the MBG programme in Bengkulu Province shows highly progressive development, as by early June 2026 the programme had been comprehensively implemented across all 10 districts and cities in Bengkulu Province. Meanwhile, according to data from the Regional Head of the Nutrition Education Service Unit for Bengkulu Province, 139 Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) are now fully operational to serve the nutritional needs of schoolchildren, absorbing 5,704 workers and involving 804 raw food material suppliers. “To optimise the economic impact, the government is committed to ensuring that every SPPG can be integrated with the regional supply chain system by encouraging direct partnerships between nutrition kitchens and local farmers, livestock breeders, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),” Irfan said.