Zulhas: President Requests MBG Programme to be Perfected by End of 2026

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - President Prabowo Subianto is said to have requested that the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme be perfected by the end of 2026. This information was disclosed by Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) while leading a Limited Coordination Meeting (Rakortas) with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and related ministries. “On the President’s orders, we are requested to have it perfected by the end of the year,” Zulhas stated during the meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs office in Jakarta on Thursday (2/4/2026). According to Zulhas, the implementation of the MBG programme has generally shown positive developments. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that distribution to beneficiary groups in pesantren needs to be accelerated. The government records that as of 30 March 2026, the MBG programme has reached 61,680,043 beneficiaries in 38 provinces. These tens of millions of beneficiaries receive meals from 26,066 Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG). Among the evidence of evaluation and monitoring, the BGN has issued warnings to 2,162 SPPGs. “(The breakdown) suspended 1,789, SP1 (first warning letter) 368, SP2 5. Total 2,162. But this is moving continuously,” said Zulhas. In the future, the government will provide a call centre. The public will be involved in supervision and can report MBG issues through that channel. “For handling complaint acceleration. We are tidying this up so that there will be a call centre at the BGN,” Zulhas said.