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View all search resultsGovernment to halt free meal scheme during holidays
The multi-billion dollar meal scheme is one of President Prabowo Subianto's signature policies, but has been widely criticised for its high costs, with hundreds demonstrating in Jakarta last week to call for it to be scrapped.
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Closed up: A free nutritious meals service unit (SPPG) is shuttered in Mimbaan 03 subdistrict, Panji district, Situbondo, East Java, on Friday, June 5, 2026. Many SPPG have been forced to suspend their operational activities due to delayed government funding, contract renewals and graft investigations involving the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). (Antara/Novi Husdinariyanto)
T
he government will suspend its free meal scheme during holiday periods, after mass protests in the capital condemned wasteful spending and demanded that the goverment address worsening economic conditions.
The multi-billion dollar meal scheme is one of President Prabowo Subianto's signature policies, but has been widely criticised for its high costs, with hundreds demonstrating in Jakarta last week to call for it to be scrapped.
The National Nutrition Agency (BGN), the body tasked to distribute the meals, has ordered kitchens not to serve them in the upcoming June 22 to July 13 holiday period.
The agency said this will continue to apply on public holidays, religious holidays, and weekends.
BGN spokeswoman Agustina Arumsari said in a statement late Thursday the move was not just about "budget efficiency", but would "ensure that every resource owned by the state truly provides optimal benefits for the groups in need".
The state is expected to save more than Rp 3 trillion ($168 million) in the upcoming holiday period, Agustina said, adding that this would present an opportunity to take stock and "ensure that the free nutritious meal programme becomes more accurately targeted".
The agency will stop funding meals for around 39,000 students in 76 schools in areas judged to have the economic capacity to meet nutritional needs, and shift the capacity to students in remote areas, she said.
The agency plans to propose reducing spending next year from an initial plan of Rp 270 trillion.
"We think the figure is too big," Arumsari said. "With the budget we have, we can cut back and make it more efficient."
There may be further cuts to the scheme after taking into account social and economic conditions, she said. Kitchens which service a low number of recipients or do not meet the required standards could be closed, Agustina said.
More than 61 million people have benefited from the programme as of March, according to government figures.
But the scheme has been blighted by mass food poisonings and corruption claims since it started in January last year.
This month, Prabowo fired Dadan Hindayana, the head of the BGN since its inception in August 2024, along with two deputies. They stand accused of "crimes in management" of the agency.
The free meal scheme had a goal of reaching at least 82.9 million children, and pregnant and breastfeeding women -- nearly one-third of the country's population.
But it was among the first budget items to be cut back as Jakarta moved to counter the economic impact of the Middle East war.
