Free Nutritious Meals Programme May Be Limited to Lowest Income Students

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is conducting a review of a proposal to limit the beneficiaries of the free nutritious meals (MBG) project exclusively to students from the lowest income deciles. Deputy Head of BGN, retired Major General Trenggono, stated that the agency is still examining the discourse following a directive from President Prabowo Subianto to evaluate the programme’s implementation. “The discourse is indeed heading in that direction, but we are still reviewing it,” he said when met at the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta on Friday, 17 July 2026. He added that the agency has not yet determined the number of beneficiaries following the proposed adjustment to the income decile criteria, including the data source to be used as a reference. “The President has given us time, one month, to complete the review,” he noted. Separately, Deputy Head of BGN Agustina Arumsari said the government is not only reviewing the prioritisation of beneficiaries from the lowest deciles but also considering prioritising distribution in underdeveloped regions. “What needs to be made efficient, those who no longer need to receive the MBG programme, please do not receive it anymore. But for those in the lower deciles, in underdeveloped areas, in regions with high stunting prevalence and so on, please provide it,” she said after a limited meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, 15 July 2026. She also mentioned the possibility of differing per-portion costs between Java and eastern Indonesia. The MBG programme has come under scrutiny after the Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into alleged corruption in its management at the National Nutrition Agency. Investigators have named several suspects, including former BGN Head Dadan Hindayana, his two former deputies Sony Sanjaya Lodewyk Pusung and Asep Yusuf Somantri, Commissioner of PT Yasa Artha Trimanunggal Andri Mulyono, and Chairperson of the Indonesia Food Security Review Foundation Glory Harimas Sihombing.