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Free meal program to start on Jan. 2 next year
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has appointed Dadan Hindayana to head the National Nutrition Agency less than a week after he signed presidential regulation No. 83/2024 on Aug. 15 stipulating the establishment of the agency.
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Students eat their meals on Feb. 29, 2024, during the trial of a free-lunch program for students at a junior high school in Tangerang, Banten. (Reuters/Stefanno Sulaiman)
T
he free nutritious meals program, president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s flagship campaign promise, is set to begin on Jan. 2 of next year, according to the newly appointed head of the National Nutrition Agency.
National Nutrition Agency head Dadan Hindayana said on Monday that the agency will be implemented directly throughout Indonesia under the incoming administration, which will take office starting Oct. 20.
“We have done pilot programs for nearly eight months. We want to copy and paste what we have trialed on a nationwide scale,” Dadan said, as quoted from Kumparan.
He said the agency is looking to understand the pros and cons in each region when it officially kick-starts the program in unison all over the country.
Read also: Questions linger over how Prabowo will fund free school meals
For now, the agency will focus on preparing procedures to implement the program for students, including those in Islamic boarding schools, as well as pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under five, but he did not detail how many eligible participants it sought to cover with the program.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appointed Dadan to head the agency less than a week after presidential regulation No. 83/2024 took effect this Aug. 15, stipulating the establishment of the National Nutrition Agency.
