National Nutrition Agency Acts Swiftly on Prabowo's Order to Improve Free Nutritious Meal Programme

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is moving quickly to follow a special order from President Prabowo Subianto to improve the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. The President gave the agency 30 days from a limited meeting on Wednesday (15/7/2026) to refine the accuracy of its beneficiary data.

Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Agustina Arumsari, stated that President Prabowo specifically requested the BGN to re-examine the data of the programme’s beneficiaries. This follows an earlier report to the President from BGN Head Nanik S Deyang, who conveyed that the agency would not be chasing quantity but rather focusing on improving quality for the 2026 period.

“Yesterday, the three of us were summoned by the President and we told him, ‘Sir, we are not chasing quantity. We will improve quality, so we may not reach the 82 million target,’” Nanik said during a press conference at her office in Central Jakarta on Thursday (4/6/2026).

Arum explained that the agency is currently preparing a strategy to maximise the distribution of the MBG programme. The first step is validating the data and the number of beneficiaries. “So, the first thing we are fixing is: are the 63 million [beneficiaries] correct? That’s the first step. Once we know the correct number, we will determine which regions and which children should be prioritised. That is now our task,” Arumsari told reporters at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday (20/7/2026).

Arum also mentioned that the BGN is evaluating the incentive scheme for the Nutritional Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG). She noted that the scheme will be adjusted to the specific needs of each SPPG in reaching beneficiaries, as the incentives can no longer be standardised across the board.

“We will create a fairer incentive scheme. For example, it is not right for an SPPG that only covers a 200-metre area and serves 500 people to receive the same incentive as one covering a 400-metre area that serves more people. It is not fair to standardise the incentive at IDR 6 million,” Arum elaborated. “Those are the schemes we are going to improve.”