House Suggests Overhaul of Free Nutritious Meal Programme, Recipients Slashed to 26 Million After Constitutional Court Ruling
Jakarta, VIVA – Charles Honoris, Deputy Chair of Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), has asked the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to use Constitutional Court ruling Number 40/PUU-XXIV/2026 as a momentum to redesign the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG). According to him, such an evaluation is needed so that the programme is better targeted while also reducing the burden on the state budget.
Charles said one step that could be taken is to review the number of MBG beneficiaries. With such an adjustment, the programme’s budget requirements are expected to decrease, so that it no longer burdens the education budget allocation.
“This is a moment for BGN to redesign this programme. For example, refocusing the beneficiaries. Perhaps no longer 82 million as initially planned, but focused only on those who need it,” said Charles at the DPR RI building in Jakarta on Monday, 3 August 2026.
Proposal to Cut Beneficiaries to 26 Million People
Charles believes the main aim of the Free Nutritious Meal Programme is to reduce stunting rates and improve the nutritional quality of the population, particularly children. Therefore, he argued, the programme does not need to be given to all children in Indonesia.
He cited data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) showing that around 26 million people require additional nutritional intake. This group includes children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, who are considered a priority in efforts to prevent stunting.
According to Charles, if beneficiaries are focused on groups that genuinely need assistance, the programme budget will fall significantly.
“So let’s simply refocus the beneficiaries from 82 million to 26 million. The budget will naturally decrease considerably, no longer reaching more than Rp200 trillion but perhaps only around Rp60 trillion, so it will not eat into the education budget,” he said.
Under this scheme, the government is considered able to run the MBG programme more effectively without reducing the budget allocated to the education sector.
DPR Asks Government to Evaluate Number of MBG Kitchens
Beyond the number of beneficiaries, Charles also asked the government to evaluate the number of Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG), or community kitchens, currently being prepared to support the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal Programme.
According to him, if the number of beneficiaries decreases, the operational needs of the kitchens will automatically adjust accordingly. Therefore, the government needs to recalculate the number of SPPGs still required.