Hashim Djojohadikusumo: Free Nutritious Meal Programme Will Not Stop

Jakarta - Special Envoy of the President for Energy and Climate, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, has stressed that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme for children and pregnant women will not be halted. Speaking at the inauguration of the central, provincial, and district boards of Srikandi Jaga Desa, a branch of the National Association of Village Consultative Bodies (Abpednas), in Jakarta on Friday evening, Hashim stated that MBG is President Prabowo Subianto’s firm resolve. “I think it is no longer a secret that the government is determined to continue the MBG programme; it will not stop until we succeed. We will provide nutritious food to all children and pregnant women who need it. This is a determination, a campaign promise of Prabowo Subianto, and it will not stop; it will be continued,” he said. Hashim noted that the MBG programme was an idea of President Prabowo’s dating back to around 2006, driven by his ambition to improve the health of Indonesian children suffering from stunting. According to Hashim, this was a promise Prabowo made long before he was elected president. “This has been a campaign promise of Prabowo Subianto since 2009, when he was a vice presidential candidate, continued in 2014 as a presidential candidate, again in 2019, and in 2024. It is Prabowo Subianto’s campaign promise that all Indonesian children who wish for it will receive free nutritious meals, so that we can tackle the very serious condition of stunting,” he said. However, Hashim did not deny allegations of irregularities in the programme’s implementation. He therefore requested that relevant ministries and agencies, as well as members of Srikandi Jaga Desa, oversee the execution of the MBG programme. “Programmes with noble goals, if their implementation is not supervised and properly managed, we have already seen what the results can be,” Hashim remarked.