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Free meals program faces multiple hiccups in first month of rollout
In Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency, Papua Highlands, the rollout of the free meals program faced a setback as thousands of schoolchildren took to the streets to protest the initiative, which was scheduled to launch in various regions in Papua on Monday.
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Packed and stacked: Workers prepare packaged lunches for distribution to students of SMA Muhammadiyah 2 high school in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Jan. 6, 2025, the first day of the free meals program. (Antara/Umarul Faruq)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals program for schoolchildren and pregnant women has encountered several challenges during its first month of implementation.
The program’s first phase was launched on Jan. 6, with an aim to distribute nutritious meals to 500,000 students. The government aims to gradually increase the number of recipients to 17.5 million by December and, eventually, 82 million by the final year of Prabowo’s administration in 2029.
Despite these ambitious goals, however, reports emerged on Sunday revealing that the government had suspended the free meals program for nearly 3,000 students across 18 schools in Sumenep Regency, East Java.
Kusniah, acting headmistress of SD Pandian I State Elementary School in Kota district, stated that she received the information via a circular sent to a WhatsApp group of school officials whose institutions are beneficiaries of the free meals program.
"The circular announced that the program will be halted starting Monday. However, it did not specify when it will be resumed," she said on Sunday, as reported by Kompas.
Schools are now scrambling to notify parents about the abrupt decision, urging them to ensure their children have breakfast and bring lunch to school.
Head of the Sumenep free meals kitchen, Mohammad Kholilur Rahman, explained that the decision to suspend the free meals program in the regency was taken due to a "technical problem" within the organizer.
