PDIP: Allocation of Education Budget for the Free Nutritious Meal Programme is Stipulated in the State Budget Law and Presidential Regulation
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The PDI-Perjuangan faction in the Indonesian Parliament has affirmed that the allocation of the education budget for the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG) is regulated in Law Number 17 of 2025 concerning the 2026 State Budget and Presidential Regulation Number 118 of 2025 concerning the details of the 2026 State Budget.
Adian Napitupulu, a member of Commission X of the Indonesian Parliament from the PDI-P faction, said that the provisions regarding the funding for the MBG programme are stated in the Explanation of Article 22 of the 2026 State Budget Law, which states that the nutritious meal programme is included in the operational funding for the implementation of education.
“The Explanation of Article 22 of Law Number 17 of 2025, which is the Law, states: ‘Operational funding for the implementation of education includes the nutritious meal programme at institutions related to the implementation of education, both general and religious’,” said Adian in a press conference at the PDI-P Party School, Jakarta, Wednesday (25/2/2026).
“When we do not get a complete understanding in the body of the law, we can look for it in the explanation. The explanation is as follows,” he said.
“This explanation is then reinforced by Presidential Regulation Number 118 of 2025 concerning the details of the 2026 State Budget, and it states that for the National Nutrition Agency: 223,558,960,490. So, IDR 223 trillion,” he said.
“Conveying the information correctly in accordance with the Law and in accordance with the Presidential Regulation is respecting the institutions that created them. We respect the Parliament and the Government,” said Adian.
Meanwhile, the Chair of Commission X of the Indonesian Parliament from the PDI-P faction, Esti Wijayati, added that the explanation was conveyed to clarify information circulating in the community regarding the source of funding for the MBG programme.
She said that the education budget in the 2026 State Budget is IDR 769 trillion, which is a mandatory expenditure of 20 percent of the total state budget of IDR 3,842 trillion.
In this figure, said Esti, the allocation of the MBG budget of IDR 223.5 trillion is included, as stated in the appendix to the State Budget.
“Its position in this budget is still 20 percent. So, it does not mean that the education budget is increased by IDR 223 trillion to become 30 percent, but it is added with the MBG managed by the BGN, which remains at 20 percent,” said Esti.
“This means that it does not increase the budget, but it should be allocated to the education budget. Automatically, from this statement, it is clear that the MBG budget from the State Budget is indeed used from the education budget,” she added.
The polemic regarding the use of the education budget for the MBG programme emerged after a contract teacher, Reza Sudrajat, filed a judicial review of the 2026 State Budget Law with the Constitutional Court.