Indonesian Government Communications Agency Urges Public to Report Any Irregularities in Free Nutritious Meals Programme
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Government Communications Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (Bakom RI) has urged the public not to hesitate in reporting and monitoring any irregularities and corruption in the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme.
Bakom RI Junior Expert Hariqo Satria said that all members of the public can oversee the running of the MBG programme owing to its transparent nature.
“In the Free Nutritious Meals programme, virtually everyone has the ability to detect where corruption and irregularities exist,” Hariqo said during the Indekstat National Survey Release event, monitored online from Jakarta on Saturday (21/2).
He explained that this differs from public oversight of other government activities, such as detecting corruption related to office stationery procurement, official travel, or bridge construction, which require specialised expertise.
Furthermore, he affirmed that the government has not cut budgets in education, health, or poverty alleviation in order to fund the MBG programme.
Hariqo assessed that Indonesia has moved swiftly in implementing the MBG programme, noting that other countries have required decades to build such systems.
Currently, he revealed that 107 countries already have national policies related to providing free nutritious meals in schools, a figure that has increased since 2020.
As such, Indonesia was described as a remarkable nation for being able to build an MBG system in less than two years of governance.
“Now more than 60 million people, our children, from pregnant women to students, are receiving Free Nutritious Meals,” he said.
Hariqo added that the programme has also created more than one million jobs, thereby easing the economic burden on families.
He expressed appreciation for the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka for continuing to run the MBG programme, noting that no previous government had successfully implemented such a programme.
“It has been attempted before, it has operated before, but never on a daily basis and at the scale of this Free Nutritious Meals programme,” Hariqo added.