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Prabowo team explains funding for free meals, insists no impact on state budget
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Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto (center) dances on the stage during a gathering with supporters in February 2024. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
T
he team of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has shared some ideas on how his administration might fund free lunches and milk for schoolchildren nationwide to deliver on a key election promise.
The envisioned program is estimated to cost Rp 460 trillion (US$30 billion) annually once it reaches its full scale in 2029 to feed 82.9 million schoolchildren, teachers and pregnant women.
In the initial year, the program would consume between Rp 100 trillion and Rp 120 trillion in state funds to provide a limited number of people with well-balanced and healthy meals, said Budiman Sudjatmiko, a senior member of Prabowo's expert team.
The pilot program could be much cheaper for the central government, Budiman said, by forging local partnerships.
Collaboration with local governments and suppliers, he estimated, would reduce the state budget contribution to Rp 60 trillion in the first year of the program, which he deemed potentially achievable through “increased state revenue.”
"Village-owned enterprises, micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs], as well as cooperatives will be consolidated to establish a specialized supply chain to meet the food requirements of this program,” Budiman said.
He continued: “Major national food industries can play a role in promoting improvements in quality, productivity and the application of agricultural technology.”
