Head of National Nutrition Agency Asserts Procurement of Laptops to Socks is Proportional and Measured

Jakarta – The Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, has clarified information regarding the procurement of various items such as socks, laptops, and eating utensils that have drawn public attention. Dadan emphasised that the procurement of these items does indeed exist as part of the operational needs of the Free Nutritious Meals Programme (MBG), but the quantities are not as large as widely reported. “The procurement exists, but not in the amounts mentioned. For example, 32,000 laptops and eating utensils worth Rp4 trillion are completely untrue,” Dadan explained in his statement on Tuesday, 14 April 2026. He stressed that the procurement of socks, laptops, and eating utensils is carried out according to real field needs and not in the fantastical quantities circulating. Dadan stated that throughout 2025, laptop procurement within the BGN was only for 5,000 units. “The laptop procurement is not 32,000 units as circulated, but only around 5,000 units throughout 2025,” he reiterated. Additionally, regarding eating utensils, procurement was only for 315 Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) built through state budget (APBN) financing. “Eating utensils procurement is only for 315 SPPG funded by APBN with a budget ceiling of around Rp215 billion,” Dadan said. Dadan assured that the construction of these APBN-based SPPG has been determined based on a Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB), so all procurements follow the government’s established planning. From the budget perspective, Dadan detailed that the ceiling for eating utensils procurement is Rp89.32 billion, with realisation reaching around Rp68.94 billion. This indicates that the procurement execution was carried out efficiently and did not exceed the allocated budget. Furthermore, kitchen equipment procurement is also an important part in supporting SPPG operations. For kitchen equipment procurement, the budget ceiling is set at Rp252.42 billion with realisation around Rp245.81 billion. According to him, all these procurements were carried out in a measured manner and adjusted to the operational needs of each SPPG, so there is no budget wastage in its implementation. Dadan also emphasised that these figures are far from the public claims circulating that mention procurement values reaching trillions of rupiah. Meanwhile, regarding socks, Dadan emphasised that BGN does not procure them directly. He explained that socks are part of the equipment provided during the Indonesian Development Driver Bachelor (SPPI) training.