Responding to Student Protests, Palace Insists Free Nutritious Meal Programme Will Not Stop

The government has stressed it will not halt the free nutritious meal project, known as MBG. The Government Communication Agency (Bakom) conveyed this stance in response to student demands made during the ‘Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia’ demonstration this week. Bakom Chief Muhammad Qodari stated that MBG is a priority programme of President Prabowo Subianto. “For that reason, the government, in this case the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), will continue to run the MBG programme while constantly evaluating and improving its governance,” Qodari said in a written statement on Sunday, 14 June 2026. According to Qodari, various challenges emerging in the implementation of a government programme are normal. “To turn an idea into an operational programme, it needs to be broken down. There will certainly be variations and there will certainly be problems. Only dead people have no problems. As long as we are alive, there will be problems,” he said. Nevertheless, he stated that the various obstacles that arise should not become a reason to stop a beneficial programme. “But those problems do not mean we should stop. They do not mean we should retreat. We evaluate,” Qodari said. Currently, he said, BGN has taken steps to improve the management of the MBG project. One of these is the temporary suspension of MBG kitchen construction as part of a restructuring effort. Qodari stressed that the temporary suspension does not apply to MBG services that are already running. “Why shouldn’t it stop? Because the beneficiaries are real on the ground. There are pregnant women. Can their pregnancy be stopped? There are breastfeeding mothers. Should their babies be told to stop breastfeeding? Should toddlers be told to stop eating? Should schoolchildren not be allowed to eat anymore?” he said. Previously, students from various campuses across Indonesia held protests on Friday and Saturday. In Jakarta, students staged a protest titled ‘Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia’, one of whose demands was the termination of the free nutritious meal project. They also demanded the government stop wasting the state budget, lower fuel and staple food prices, and halt the construction of the Koperasi Desa Merah Putih. Students also demanded that the military return to barracks. Similar demands were voiced at protests held in Solo, Semarang, and Yogyakarta.