Prabowo Slams 'Barbaric' Corruptors Targeting Free Nutritious Meals Programme

President Prabowo Subianto has strongly condemned parties involved in corruption within the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme, stating that those who seek to profit from food intended for children do not deserve respect. ‘I consider those who want to corrupt the food for these children to be barbarians. These are people unworthy of our respect. In my view, they have lost all sense of humanity,’ Prabowo said during his state address at the MPR Annual Session and Joint Session of the DPR-DPD at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (14/8/2026). He stated that the MBG programme is part of the government’s effort to meet the basic needs of Indonesian children, insisting that no child should have to study while hungry. ‘We are starting from the most basic thing, which is nutrition. No child should have to learn on an empty stomach. A child cannot learn properly if they are hungry. Perhaps some of us have never seen or experienced children who do not eat in the morning, but that is the reality we face,’ he said. Prabowo noted that the MBG programme is a solution to address stunting, revealing that 25 per cent of Indonesian children still suffer from the condition. ‘We are implementing this MBG programme to overcome stunting, which in some areas still affects 25 per cent of our children,’ he added. He explained that in stunted children, the body’s cells do not develop properly, which impacts their future lives. ‘Brain cells do not develop well, muscle cells do not develop, bone cells do not develop. They might not even be strong enough to become a dockworker or a farm labourer. We cannot accept that one in four Indonesian children is stunted. We cannot accept this,’ he stated. Therefore, he is committed to continuing the MBG programme with improvements and greater efficiency.