National Headlines: Criticism of Free Nutritious Meals and Mahfud Md's Response to Pigai
Several news stories on Tempo’s national news channel garnered significant reader attention on Friday, 27 February 2026. Among them was an account from parents of schoolchildren regarding the free nutritious meal programme (MBG) during Ramadan.
Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya responded to the controversy surrounding the MBG budget allocation in the 2026 National Budget (APBN). The MBG allocation in this year’s budget had previously been criticised by the Indonesian Democratic Struggle Party (PDIP), which contended that the programme was reducing the education budget allocation.
Teddy explained that the education budget for 2026 amounts to 20 per cent of the APBN, a figure consistent with constitutional requirements regarding mandatory spending in the education sector. He stated that the government and parliamentary parties had agreed to allocate this mandatory education spending across various programmes, including MBG. “The allocation has been agreed jointly by the government, parliament, and the parliamentary budget committee, whose chair is also from PDIP,” Teddy said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Friday, 27 February 2026.
Teddy therefore rejected the narrative that MBG was consuming education budget allocations, as the distribution of funds for various educational programmes had been jointly approved. “All of this, including MBG, is the initial foundation for improving education going forward,” he stated.
Separately, Idris Muhammad, 36 years old, expressed concern about the MBG menu his two children received from the Nutritional Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) in Sragen City. His two children, attending early childhood education (PAUD), refused to consume the MBG menu during Ramadan. “They said it didn’t taste good and wasn’t fresh,” said the Sragen resident when contacted on Thursday, 26 February 2026.
According to Idris, his children brought home MBG packages in plastic bags throughout Ramadan. Recently, one child received a dry menu consisting of one small loaf of My Joy brand bread, one pear, and one packet of peanuts, all packaged in plastic containers. “Without any expiration date explanation,” he noted.
Idris stated that the bread was small-sized and poor in taste. The fruit quality was also substandard. Previously, his children had received dates, but they were already dried out and unsuitable for consumption. He expressed concern that his children were frequently receiving ultra-processed food (UPF) and worried this could cause health problems.
In another development, former Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Mahfud Md. addressed remarks made by Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai regarding opponents of government projects violating human rights.
He stated that Pigai’s assertion that those obstructing government projects such as MBG, the Red-White Village Cooperative (Kopdes Merah Putih), and the People’s School violate human rights was not entirely without merit. However, he noted that unprofessional government management of the state also constitutes a human rights violation.
“But it should also be remembered that whoever governs the state unprofessionally also violates human rights,” said Mahfud in a podcast episode of “Terus Terang” broadcast on his YouTube channel on Friday, 27 February 2026.
He elaborated that governments managing the state unprofessionally, resulting in corruption and wastage in various sectors, as well as creating imbalances in benefits between diplomatic needs and public interests, also constitute human rights violations.
Mahfud reminded listeners that human rights violations extend beyond civil and political aspects, also encompassing economic, social, cultural, and environmental dimensions. “So don’t just talk about feeding people. Improper state management is also a human rights violation,” said the former Constitutional Court Chief.