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View all search resultsNew free meals agency chief resigns as program faces fresh turbulence
President Prabowo Subianto’s free nutritious meals program suffered another setback after recently-appointed National Nutrition Agency (BGN) head Nanik Sudaryati Deyang stepped down from her post.
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President Prabowo Subianto inspects the implementation of the free nutritious meals program on June 2, 2026, at State Junior High School (SMPN) 111, Jakarta. (Courtesy of/The Palace's Press Bureau (BPMI))
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resident Prabowo Subianto’s free nutritious meals program suffered another setback after recently-appointed National Nutrition Agency (BGN) head Nanik Sudaryati Deyang stepped down from her post, adding to a string of governance problems that have dogged the flagship initiative in recent months.
Nanik announced her resignation on Facebook on Wednesday, saying she had asked Prabowo to relieve her of her duties so she could undergo treatment overseas for a heart condition.
“I have conveyed to the President, with my deepest apologies, that I had to resign as BGN chief due to health reasons,” Nanik said, adding that Prabowo had accepted her resignation.
In a previous Facebook post on Tuesday evening, hours before stepping down, Nanik said doctors had found a blockage in one of her heart arteries, attributing the condition partly to severe stress from overseeing the free meals agency.
Handling the free meals program’s massive budget had become a source of “acute trauma”, Nanik said, likening the responsibility of safeguarding public funds to "standing on the edge of a steep cliff” where even a slight misstep could prove “deadly”.
“I was so afraid of handling such a large budget that I refused to sign anything on my own [...] I questioned every policy over and over again,” she said.
Nanik’s resignation came less than two months after she was appointed to replace former BGN head Dadan Hindayana, who was arrested with two of his deputies in a corruption investigation linked to the free meals program days after being dismissed by Prabowo in early June.
