MBG Kitchen Staff Stage Counter-Protest in Jakarta Supporting Free Nutritious Meals Programme
Employees of the free nutritious meal (MBG) kitchens, known as nutrition fulfilment service units (SPPG), joined a demonstration in the National Monument area of Jakarta on Monday, 22 June 2026. The mass action, initiated by the Jakarta Community Alliance, supports President Prabowo Subianto’s MBG programme.
One group of protesters came from the SPPG Jatinegara 02 located in East Jakarta. Mai Aldi, a field assistant at the kitchen, said 47 people work at their SPPG. “Alhamdulillah, all of them came (to the demonstration),” Aldi said at the location.
Aldi claimed they came on their own initiative. The employees also pooled funds to cover consumption, make posters, and meet other needs for the protest. “We happened to have an initiative for a volunteer whip-round, where we asked each person for Rp 20,000,” he said.
According to Aldi, it was not only SPPG Jatinegara 02 employees who joined the demonstration. He said he had coordinated with other kitchens in the East Jakarta area to take action. He estimated around 400 people from 18 SPPGs in East Jakarta travelled to Monas.
Aldi stated there was no instruction from the foundation that owns the kitchen or the programme managers for SPPG employees to join the pro-MBG demonstration. He said the SPPG employees began to worry the programme would be halted after the revelation of an alleged corruption case at the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), the executor of MBG. “This is a pure initiative,” Aldi said.
The action supporting MBG in the southern area of Monas took place from Monday afternoon. The demonstrators appeared to wear white clothing for the protest. They dispersed in the evening.
This demonstration occurred after a wave of protests criticising MBG. On Thursday, 18 June, for example, the Indonesian Women’s Alliance (API) held a demonstration in the Hotel Indonesia roundabout area, Jakarta, with three demands: lowering staple food prices, creating jobs, and stopping the MBG project.
Demonstrators at that time highlighted the implementation of MBG. A representative of the masses, Afifah, assessed that the programme does not answer the fundamental problems faced by the community. “MBG is a political project, not a project to provide nutritious food,” she said.
Previously, a mass action titled “Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia” initiated by a student alliance also took place on Friday, 12 June 2026. One of their demands included that the government stop the free nutritious meal programme and the development of the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives.