Hasto of PDIP Expresses Concern Over Corruption in Free Nutritious Meal Programme: Should Have Been Preventable
PDIP’s Hasto Kristiyanto has stated that his party is concerned about the corruption cases emerging within the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. Hasto asserted that such corruption could have been prevented from the outset.
“If critical voices had been listened to, this could actually have been prevented from the beginning,” Hasto said following a film screening by Kulturnesia to commemorate Bung Karno month at Metropole XXI, Jakarta, on Sunday (7/6/2026).
Hasto noted that there had already been many critical voices from the public regarding irregularities in the MBG programme. He stated that PDIP is concerned about the corruption occurring within this flagship government programme. “Therefore, we are very concerned and we support all law enforcement efforts,” he added.
Hasto touched upon PDIP’s position, noting that the party had issued instructions to its cadres from the beginning when irregularities were first spotted. He stated that PDIP cadres had been instructed not to involve themselves in the commercialisation of programmes intended for the public. “Thus, from the moment PDI Peruitangan saw that something was wrong, we issued instructions prohibiting all PDI Perjuangan cadres from being involved in any commercialisation of programmes meant for the people,” he said.
Three former leaders of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) have been named suspects. The Attorney General’s Office has identified the former Head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana, along with two former Deputy Heads, Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung, as suspects.
The three are alleged to have intervened in the verification process of the BGN partner portal to ensure that foundations owned by them passed the criteria despite being unqualified. In addition to this intervention, the three are also suspected of being affiliated with several Food Service Implementation Units (SPPG). Through these affiliations, several SPPG foundations reportedly received billions of rupiah every day.
Beyond the affiliation scheme, the Attorney General’s Office revealed that Dadan and his associates engaged in budget markups related to the MBG programme. This budget inflation extended to goods and services that did not meet actual field requirements. The marked-up procurement included 21,801 electric motorcycles. Furthermore, price inflation was also found in the procurement of 32,000 pairs of shoes for the BGN, with the budget value reaching Rp 1 trillion.