Prabowo Defends MBG: What's Wrong with Pouring Money into the People?
President Prabowo Subianto claims that his decision to allocate a substantial budget for his priority programmes, such as the free nutritious meals (MBG), Red and White Village Cooperatives, and people’s housing, is correct. For him, there is nothing wrong with channelling state funds to the people.
Prabowo delivered this rebuttal to criticisms of these flagship programmes during his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for 13 national downstreaming projects in Cilacap, Central Java.
“What’s wrong if the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the government he leads wants to pour money into its own people? What’s wrong with that?” Prabowo stated on Wednesday, 29 April 2026.
According to the Chairman of the Gerindra Party, all programmes initiated by his government aim to ensure that Indonesia’s wealth, which flows abroad, is absorbed domestically and returned to the people.
Prabowo then claimed that the budget used to finance various priority projects of the Red and White Cabinet comes from efficiencies, specifically from state funds that were at risk of being corrupted.
“This money is what we saved from corruption. Money that would definitely have been corrupted, we held back, we reallocated, we poured it into the people. What’s wrong with that? I feel I am on the right path. We are on the right path,” he said.
On the same occasion, the former Defence Minister accused many people of fearing that one of his flagship projects, MBG, might succeed. He insisted on continuing with MBG.
Prabowo stated that there are already tens of millions of MBG beneficiaries. “We will continue until it’s finished. There are many shortcomings, we will address them. Many are afraid this will succeed,” he said.
President Prabowo’s administration is accelerating the implementation of the MBG project for around 82 million beneficiaries. Various measures are being taken to meet this target as soon as possible.
Most recently, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), responsible for MBG, has asked universities to participate in opening Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG)—the term for MBG provider kitchens. BGN Head Dadan Hindayana stated that campuses have a strategic role in supporting the success of President Prabowo Subianto’s priority programme.
Therefore, Dadan urged campuses to build and manage SPPG independently, while also turning them into practical learning centres.