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Prabowo team says poor regions will get free meals first
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Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto (left) addresses supporters next to vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka (right), the son of President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo and current Surakarta City mayor, after polls closed in the countrys presidential and legislative elections in Jakarta on Feb. 14, 2024. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he campaign team for Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka has toned down public expectations about one of its key election promises, explaining that the free lunch and milk will initially be handed out only to children in disadvantaged rural regions.
The rollout of the program is expected to begin once an administration led by Prabowo and Gibran, who won last week’s presidential election according to preliminary results, assumes office in October 2024, CNN Indonesia has reported.
The Prabowo-Gibran ticket clinched about 58 percent of the vote based on the unofficial counts. The free lunch program featured prominently in their election campaign.
Drajad H. Wibowo, a member of the Prabowo-Gibran campaign team, stated that the free lunch and milk program, which was aimed at 82.9 million schoolchildren, would be implemented gradually, with rural areas given priority.
“We're starting with the rural areas and moving on from there. We're doing it gradually, so we won't be delivering free lunch and milk to all 82.9 million youngsters at once. If we gave everyone free lunch and milk at the same time, it would not be feasible with our budget,” Drajad said on Monday, as reported by CNN Indonesia.
Read also: Prabowo promises Rp 450t free school lunch program
Drajad elaborated that the current objective was for the free lunch program to target 30 to 40 percent of the target population with free lunch and milk. However, the specific numbers would be announced when Prabowo and Gibran are in office.
