NasDem Legislator Supports Prabowo Continuing Free Nutritious Meals but Urges Better HR Governance

President Prabowo Subianto has committed to continuing the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. Member of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) from the NasDem Party faction, Irma Suryani Chaniago, supports the continuation of MBG with several notes for improvement.

“Of course (MBG) must be continued. Besides being his (Prabowo’s) flagship programme, this programme benefits the nation’s children and pregnant women if managed professionally,” Irma told journalists on Sunday (16/8/2026).

Irma said Prabowo’s targets for the MBG programme include raising IQ, preventing stunting and boosting economic growth. However, she said, it must also be understood that the MBG programme involves community capital in providing SPPG kitchens.

“If it is shut down, how much would be the losses of community members who have already joined and have not yet recouped their capital (let alone made a profit) that the government would have to bear?” she said.

She said that from the outset the programme focused only on establishing SPPG kitchens but was weak in terms of control. As a result, she said, the programme is not only wasteful because much of the food is not eaten, but also causes state losses because targets are not achieved.

“Therefore, improve its governance, evaluate the human resources and the budget, so that the budget spent, the benefits received and the president’s targets are all achieved,” she said.

In his state address at the 2026 MPR Annual Session and Joint Session of the DPR-DPD at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (14/8), Prabowo stressed that he does not want Indonesian children to study while hungry. Prabowo also cited data showing that 25 per cent of children suffer from stunting.

“But that is the reality we face, and we are implementing this today to address it, to tackle the stunting still experienced by our children in some places at a rate as high as 25 per cent — one in four Indonesian children suffers from stunting,” Prabowo said.

According to him, stunting prevents cells in a child’s body from developing properly, which will have a negative impact on their future lives.

Therefore, he is committed to continuing the MBG programme. “And for that reason, I am determined to continue the MBG programme, but with improvements and efficiency,” he said.