Free Nutritious Meal Programme During Ramadan Draws Flood of Complaints in Lumajang, BGN Dispatches Team
The head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, has responded to numerous complaints regarding the implementation of the free nutritious meal programme (MBG) during Ramadan in Lumajang Regency, East Java, stating that a BGN team has already been deployed to the field.
“We have sent a team to the ground,” said the professor from the Faculty of Agriculture at Bogor Agricultural Institute when contacted on Monday, 23 February 2026.
Complaints about the Ramadan MBG implementation in Lumajang were shared through a WhatsApp group called ‘SADARKUM LUMAJANG’, which comprises prominent figures from various sectors of Lumajang society. The group has approximately 700 members, ranging from labour activists, anti-corruption advocates, farmer activists and traders to members of the Regional People’s Representative Council.
During the fasting month, BGN has continued to permit the distribution of MBG meals to recipients, including students, pregnant women and toddlers. The agency has also recommended that MBG menus consist of dry foods that do not spoil quickly.
An administrator of the WhatsApp group, Madiono, gave Tempo permission to cite the various complaints about the Ramadan MBG menu. The Lumajang migrant worker activist said the complaints began with a photograph of a Ramadan MBG meal received by students at a school in Lumajang. The meal consisted of one boiled egg, one crystal guava fruit, and a small packet each of peanuts and bread. The message immediately drew a range of comments.
“How is it that my child’s MBG looks like this? The guava is meant for rujak, the bread costs a thousand rupiah, and the peanuts are like the ones sold on buses. Who do I complain to about this?” said one member of the WhatsApp group, writing in Javanese.
Madiono said it appeared that President Prabowo Subianto was being deceived by MBG implementers at the grassroots level. “The MBG should be managed directly by BGN itself, or by competent institutions,” Madiono said on Monday, 23 February 2026.
Ahmad Nur Huda, another member of the WhatsApp group, also encouraged the public to begin photographing Ramadan MBG meals and sharing them on social media. “So the President knows that his people are not doing right. Regardless of who they are,” said the Nahdlatul Ulama member.
Gus Mamak, as Ahmad Nur Huda is known, also shared advice on how to avoid breaching the Electronic Information and Transactions Law. “Just post it, with the caption ‘today’s MBG menu’. What do you all think? Add the hashtag #prabowosubianto,” he said.