No Free Nutritious Meals for Students on Holidays, Saving the State Rp 20 Trillion

JAKARTA - The government is cutting the frequency of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme for school students to five days per week. This policy is estimated to save the budget by up to Rp 20 trillion.

Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Dadan Hindayana stated that the savings are calculated for the period from April to December 2026.

“Yes, we predict around Rp 20 trillion per year,” said Dadan after a meeting at the Ministry of Coordinating for Food Affairs, Jakarta, on Thursday (2/4/2026).

Dadan explained that distribution will still follow the attendance of beneficiaries. Schools with five study days will receive meals five times, while those with six days will receive them six times.

“For schoolchildren, for those with five school days we provide five days, for those with six days we provide six days,” he said.

However, this policy does not apply uniformly. BGN will continue to distribute MBG six days a week in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost regions (3T areas) as well as areas with high stunting rates.

These regions include Nusa Tenggara Timur, Papua, and several areas in West Java, Central Java, and East Java.

“In the 3T regions, and also areas like NTT and Papua, it will definitely remain six days,” said Dadan.

“No, it remains the same. It’s been like that all along,” he added.

This policy emerges amid the government’s efforts to reduce budgetary burdens due to global pressures, including conflicts in West Asia. In addition to MBG, the government is also implementing other policies such as work from home every Friday for civil servants.

These steps indicate adjustments to priority programmes. Savings are the focus, with consequences for adjusting aid distribution for some recipients.