Ombudsman reaffirms commitment to oversee Free Nutritious Meal programme

The Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (ORI) has reaffirmed its commitment to overseeing the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme, a priority initiative of President Prabowo Subianto, in accordance with the ORI’s duties and functions.

Ombudsman member Nuzran Joher explained that the supervision will be conducted not only at the central level but also through the 34 regional Ombudsman representatives. “We are monitoring the President’s priority programme to ensure that the governance of this programme is running effectively,” Nuzran stated in Jakarta on Friday.

He clarified that the ORI’s oversight is not intended to find fault, but rather to ensure that the Free Nutritious Meal programme is implemented successfully. Since the programme’s inception, the Ombudsman has provided several notes regarding regulatory readiness, standard operating procedures, socialisation, and oversight aspects. These observations have been documented through systemic studies by the ORI, which have provided recommendations for improvement to the relevant authorities.

Previously, the ORI coordinated with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to strengthen the oversight of the MBG programme’s implementation. The meeting was attended by Ombudsman members Fikri Yasin and Nuzran Joher, and received by the Deputy Head of the BGN, Agustina Arumsari, and Trenggono at the BGN office in Jakarta on Thursday.

During the meeting, BGN Deputy Head Arumsari welcomed the strengthened oversight. She stated that the BGN is open to various inputs from the Ombudsman and will follow up on the results of the studies and improvement suggestions provided. “We will re-examine the study data to see what has not yet been addressed. In principle, we welcome this and thank you for this meeting,” said Arumsari.