MTI Offers Six Solutions to Strengthen Free Nutritious Meal Programme Regulations
The Indonesian Transparency Society (MTI) believes that the handling of alleged corruption cases within the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) should serve as a momentum to evaluate and overhaul the governance design of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. Structural system improvements are considered far more crucial to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the programme.
MTI Executive Director, Ahmad Jilul Q Farid, stated that the legal action taken by the Attorney General’s Office against former BGN leadership is an appropriate step. However, he warned that refining the policy architecture and derivative regulations is the primary key to closing loopholes for future misconduct.
“As long as the policy architecture remains unchanged, the same challenges and potential risks will be faced by the new management inheriting the system. Our focus moving forward must be on systemic reform,” Jilul said in a written statement on Thursday (4/6/2026).
In its study, MTI mapped four strategic areas in the current regulatory design that require strengthening and stricter limitations to prevent conflicts of interest.
First, there is a need for objective parameters, strict criteria, and transparent testing procedures regarding the exclusion clauses for the number of Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) to prevent double standards in the field. Second, rules limiting kitchen management should not only target legal entities (foundations) but must also extend to individual partnerships to avoid the concentration of ownership.
Third, regulations must be formulated to strictly prohibit the involvement of supervisory agency officials, law enforcement officers, or public officials in the ownership or management of operational kitchen units. Fourth, referring to the KPK Prevention Deputy’s study and the BGN’s internal evaluation regarding price fluctuations of raw materials above the Maximum Retail Price (HET), regulations must be stricter in implementing Article 38 of Presidential Regulation Number 115 of 2025, which mandates the involvement of Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) and village cooperatives.
“The government has already identified challenges in the supply chain and raw material price dynamics in the field. The next step the public awaits is the translation of these evaluations into a more robust revised regulatory design,” said Jilul.
As a form of constructive contribution, MTI offers six strategic solution recommendations to the government and the new leadership of the BGN to strengthen programme governance. First, public data transparency by opening access to the selection of partners and periodic procurement data for supporting goods/services on official portals.
Second, the standardisation of technical regulations by narrowing the scope of multi-interpretative discretion. Third, the strengthening of regional institutions by building independent oversight mechanisms commensurate with the programme’s scale and actively integrating the role of Regional Governments (Pemda).
Fourth, prioritising budget allocation for direct nutritional fulfilment and limiting the procurement of non-priority supporting facilities that are prone to mark-ups. Fifth, completing all operational regulations following the issuance of Presidential Regulation Number 115 of 2025 to ensure field implementation has a complete legal umbrella.
Lastly, aligning the rate of programme expansion with the readiness of the governance system and the oversight capacity in every region.
“The greatest challenge ahead is the courage to perform a reset or rearrangement of the SPPG governance, which is deemed insufficiently accountable. We require strict and transparent standardisation to realise a clean and high-integrity national nutrition fulfilment programme,” concluded Jilul.