That afternoon, Tina (not her real name) and her classmates, first-year students at SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak, Sukabumi, had not yet returned home. They had a schedule to participate in scouting extracurricular activities.
While practicing scouting, Tina suddenly felt stomach cramps. At first, she thought it was menstrual pain, but it gradually felt different. Tina endured the pain while continuing to practice scouting.
It turned out that she wasn’t the only one with stomach pain; her friends were feeling the same thing.
After returning from the scouting activity, Tina arrived home around 6 p.m., and the pain had intensified. She complained about the pain to her mother.
“Mom, my stomach hurts so much,”
“Why? Do you want to see a doctor?”
“No need, Mom.”
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Tina then rushed to the bathroom, where she had diarrhea. Her head felt dizzy, and her stomach was queasy. Soon after, she vomited. Seeing Tina’s condition, her mother told her to go to the doctor immediately.
“Just go to the doctor.”
Finally, Tina followed her mother’s advice to see a doctor, accompanied by her father on his motorcycle. Unfortunately, the nearest doctor she went to was not available that day. Tina and her father returned home.
When they arrived home, her mother contacted her regular midwife. She explained her daughter’s symptoms. The midwife recommended anti-diarrhea medicine that could be bought at the pharmacy. Her father immediately went to the pharmacy to buy the medicine.
Tina refused to eat dinner because her stomach was still queasy and she felt like vomiting. However, her mother told her to eat so she could take her medicine and get better. Tina finally ate a few bites and took the medicine recommended by the midwife. Tina remembered that on Thursday afternoon, September 11, 2025, she ate the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) at her school, which was provided by the Karangtengah Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) kitchen. That day’s menu consisted of rice, stir-fried long beans and tofu, with a side dish of fried eggs with sauce, oranges, and a small carton of chocolate-flavored milk.
Tina noticed something suspicious about the fried egg that day. The fried egg was seasoned with a sauce that looked thick and slippery. When she cut open the yolk, there was a greenish substance called .She then separated the yolk and only ate the white part of the egg, and even then, she only took three bites and did not finish it.
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Although the scrambled eggs were cooked with seasoning, they tasted bland, with no flavor at all. The rice, as usual, felt hard. Only the stir-fried vegetables tasted good to Tina because they had flavor.
After eating the MBG meal, Tina did not buy snacks or eat anything else. Later, she felt stomach pain during scouting practice.
When Tina checked her phone and read the class WhatsApp group, it was already buzzing with stories from her friends who were also experiencing stomach pain. One of her friends was the first to report feeling stomach pain, as were students from other classes.
“I have a stomachache. Are any of you feeling sick? I heard from another class that everyone in their class is sick,” she said.
The chat immediately received many responses from Tina’s classmates.
“Yeah, me too.”
“I feel really weak.”
“I’ve already taken medicine.”
“Just use this medicine.”
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They exchanged messages, sharing their respective conditions through the WhatsApp group chat. Meanwhile, in the WhatsApp group that included the homeroom teacher and students, the homeroom teacher also inquired about the students’ conditions.
“Is anyone feeling stomach pain?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The students then reported their conditions. The homeroom teacher then advised the students to take medicine to address their complaints.
Throughout the night, Tina went back and forth to the toilet. Her stomach still hurt. She went to the toilet about 5 to 6 times from when she got home from school until the next morning. Even in the morning when she was about to leave for school, she still went to the toilet and was almost late.
School started at 6:30 a.m., but she had to be there at 6:15 a.m. because there was a morning assembly that students had to attend. Actually, her stomach still hurt that morning, but Tina felt she could still go to school, so she went.
When she arrived at school, it turned out that many of her classmates were absent. There were 10 students in her class who were absent that day due to stomach aches with the same complaints: nausea, dizziness, and diarrhea. In addition to her class, many students in other classes were also absent.
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This situation caused Tina’s friends to complain, and some even became angry and upset. However, they felt there was nothing they could do about it.
“Why did whoever prepared the food do this? Now we’re all sick!” complained one student.
“Yeah, now we have stomachaches too,” replied another student.
“Well, what else can we do?” replied another student.
The students’ complaints about the MBG ultimately remained among themselves. There was no mechanism for students to provide feedback, input, or complaints about the program that placed them as beneficiaries.
While at school, Tina refrained from going to the toilet because she was embarrassed to have to go back and forth to the bathroom. She also held a small stone she had found in the schoolyard, because it was said that this could prevent her from pooping. However, this is only a myth because it has not been scientifically proven and is more a matter of suggestion.
During class at around 11:00 a.m., the Vice Principal for Student Affairs, Asep Suhendi, came to Tina’s class. He explained that any students with stomachaches were asked to come to the UKS (School Health Unit). A team of doctors from the community health center would examine the students.
“Is anyone here having diarrhea, like in other classes? If so, you can go to the UKS to be examined by a doctor from the health center,” he said.
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In Tina’s class, almost all of the students who came to school that day had stomachaches, but not all of them went to the UKS. Some students said they were afraid of getting injections, even though the doctors and health workers from the health center did not give injections to the students.
Tina and her five female friends went to the school clinic. At that time, the clinic was already full of students and a number of doctors and nurses. Some students were lying on the clinic beds because they were weak, while others were sitting.
The health workers asked Tina a number of questions. What were her symptoms? How many times had she gone to the toilet? And so on. After that, she was prescribed medication. She was given two types of medication and the health workers explained how to take them. Some had to be taken before meals and some after meals. After that, Tina was told to return to class.
On that Friday, SPPG Karangtengah Cibadak still sent food to Tina’s school. The menu that day was burgers, consisting of a bun, two slices of cucumber and tomato, a lettuce leaf, boiled peas, beef, a sachet of chili sauce, and four longan fruits.
Tina and her friends ate the MBG menu because it was modern food and suited their tastes.
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That day, the MBG delivery and distribution process ran as usual, with no changes. Trays containing the MBG menu from the SPPG kitchen were delivered by car to the school. Upon arrival at the school, representatives from each class, consisting of 3-4 students assigned the task, collected the trays containing the prepared meals.
The food in the trays was taken and stored in the Gazebo. When the second break arrived at 11:30 a.m., the students took their food portions at the Gazebo. They could eat in the gazebo, in the classroom, or anywhere else on the school grounds. After finishing their meals, the trays were returned to the Gazebo.
Students have about 60 minutes during the second break to pray and eat their MBG meals. The students on duty return the empty trays to the transport vehicle.
At SMKN 1 Cibadak, all students in grades 1 to 3 receive MBG meals. The total number of students is around 2,202. There are some students who are participating in field work practice outside the school environment. Therefore, the number of students who receive MBG is around 2,000.
Tina does not always finish the MBG meal provided. Usually, if the side dish is eggs, she does not finish her meal. This is because the egg dish usually has no taste, or if the eggs are cooked as an omelette, they are usually too salty. She usually finishes her MBG meal if the side dish is chicken or if the menu is more modern, such as burgers, hot dogs, or potatoes.
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While some of her friends dislike MBG, they usually don’t take their food portions. Some give it to other friends because one portion is not enough. But there are also those like her, who don’t finish their food if the menu is not appealing. There are also those who only take fruit and packaged drinks.
When she got home, Tina told her mother about the situation at school and the medicine given by the health center. Her mother reminded her that she still had medicine bought from the pharmacy, and she was asked to finish the medicine she had bought and started taking on Thursday night.
So throughout Saturday and Sunday, Tina continued to take the medicine bought at the pharmacy. Her stomach ache had subsided, as had her dizziness and nausea. However, her stool was still loose. Tina’s condition gradually began to improve on Monday (September 15, 2025).
From January to September, Konde.co compiled data from the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) using the citizen report card method and supplemented it with Konde.co’s media monitoring, recording 6,924 cases of poisoning spread across various provinces as of September 24, 2025.
When looking at the provincial distribution, West Java recorded the highest number of cases with 2,423 cases, followed by the Special Region of Yogyakarta (1,047 cases), and Bengkulu (539 cases).
MBG Food Poisoning Victim Data
The total number of victims of free nutritious meal poisoning as of September 24, 2025, reached 6,924 victims.
Source: JPPI (as of September 22) and News Data Tracking by Konde.co The sharp decline in June was due to school holidays. July–September saw the highest surge in cases, aligning with the increase in SPPG operations.
MBG Food Poisoning Victim Data by Region
The total number of victims of Free Nutritious Meal poisoning as of September 24, 2025 reached 6,924 victims.
Source: JPPI (as of September 22) and News Data Tracking by Konde.co The highest number of MBG poisoning cases was in West Java, in line with the highest concentration of SPPG kitchens.
News about many students suffering from stomachaches reached the school through their homeroom teachers. They received complaints from students in their classes. Moreover, on Friday, September 12, 2025, many students were absent. Teachers who taught the first class shared stories about the condition of their classes that morning.
The large number of students who were absent for the same reason, namely diarrhea, prompted the school to investigate the matter. The Deputy Principal for Student Affairs, Asep Suhendi, then collected data from each class.
Several students then went to the school clinic complaining of dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The school then informed the local health center about the incident experienced by the students.
“Due to these simultaneous symptoms, we immediately responded by contacting the Cibadak Community Health Center. And, thank God, the local authorities were also quite responsive. The sub-district head also came here. The police chief also came here. The in charge person also came here,” said Khoiron, Public Relations Officer of SMKN 1 Cibadak, to Konde.co when met at the school.
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Khoiron added that the health center took samples from the MBG because it was suspected to be the cause. However, since the laboratory test results have not been released, the school cannot yet make a statement regarding the cause of the students’ poisoning.
“Until now, we have not received the official lab test results, so we certainly cannot and dare not confirm that the cause was the MBG. We are only taking steps to anticipate that the symptoms experienced by the children can be resolved properly,” he explained.
That day, the homeroom teacher distributed a form via a link to be filled out by students or parents who were absent that day due to complaints of diarrhea. A total of 243 children were absent and were treated by the health center team at the UKS.
Khoiron revealed that on Friday, the SPPG kitchen continued to deliver food because they only found out about this on Friday morning. He then coordinated with the kitchen and asked about the SPPG kitchen’s SOP in this kind of situation.
He requested that wet meals be temporarily suspended. Even if the SOP required them to continue delivering meals as part of their obligation, the school requested that dry meals, such as snacks, be provided instead. It was finally agreed that the MBG menu for Monday and Tuesday would consist of snacks.
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The MBG menu at SMKN 1 Cibadak on Monday (September 15, 2025). This type of dry menu was provided for two days until Tuesday. Photo: special.
The dry menu provided consisted of wheat germ biscuits, packaged mung bean juice, boiled eggs, and oranges. This type of menu was provided for two days until Tuesday (September 15, 2025). On Wednesday (September 16, 2025), the menu returned to normal, or wet menu.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Cibadak Health Center in Sukabumi, dentist Febbie Nawawi, told Konde.co during an interview at the Cibadak Health Center that on Friday around 10 a.m., the program coordinator for the Adolescent Health Post (Posrem) responsible for handling adolescents received a WhatsApp message from a school teacher.
The message informed that many students were absent from school that day, and some had gone to the school health unit (UKS) with complaints of headaches and diarrhea. Upon receiving this information, Febbie coordinated and formed a team to visit the school.
“I immediately coordinated to form a team to go there. So, around 10:30 a.m., we went there with a team in an ambulance. The team consisted of a doctor, nurse, midwife, and surveillance officer,” said Febbie.
While at the school, the number of students who came to the school clinic increased. Febbie said her team conducted clinical examinations and provided treatment by administering medication. There were three types of oral medication prescribed and given to students who came to the school clinic according to their symptoms. From the examination and monitoring process, Febbie explained that no students needed to be referred to the hospital.
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Based on the symptoms shown, Febbie revealed that the students were suspected of food poisoning after consuming the MBG menu. However, she could not yet confirm the source of the poisoning.
To determine the cause of the incident, environmental health officers (Kesling) from the health center requested food samples from the kitchen manager of SPPG Karangtengah, which supplies the food. The health center officers requested food samples on Thursday (September 11, 2025) and Friday (September 12, 2025).
Febbie said that every SPPG must have a sample bank. So the food samples submitted on Thursday came from the sample bank.
“We immediately pack the samples in airtight containers, then take them and store them in the freezer. We have a special freezer for that. And we have to send the samples to the provincial health laboratory in Bandung,” said Febbie.
The samples from Thursday (9/11/25) and Friday (9/12/25) menus have been packed and are ready to be sent to the provincial health laboratory in Bandung on Monday (9/15/25). Photo: special.
The samples were sent on Monday (September 15, 2025) and it takes about two weeks for the examination process. The standard operating procedure (SOP) for handling food poisoning cases requires that food samples be examined at the provincial laboratory. According to Febbie, this procedure is also related to the availability of equipment.
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Students treated at the UKS until the end of classes, and even those still being monitored by the health center team until 4:00 PM, numbered 69 children. Additionally, there were nearly 200 students who did not attend school and filled out forms with the same symptoms.
A total of 243 students were recorded as experiencing symptoms of poisoning. These data are not just numbers, and according to Febbie, they cannot be ignored even though the percentage is relatively small compared to the total number of students.
She revealed that there are many vulnerable points in the MBG serving process that can cause bacteria to grow in food. First, preparing large portions every day will cause fatigue among the staff who prepare the food. This condition can be a vulnerable point.
Second, the cleanliness of eating utensils. This issue of cleanliness must always be checked and monitored to ensure that eating utensils are completely clean. Even a small amount of food residue left behind can also cause vulnerability.
“Therefore, it is important for all parties involved to participate in monitoring to ensure that food intended to be nutritious does not become poisonous,” she concluded.
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Konde.co took several sample measures from food poisoning cases in three different quarters. The mapping results show that the steps taken by the government in handling each case of MBG poisoning are as follows:
In general, the approach taken was reactive and curative, while systemic root causes—such as weak ongoing supervision, non-compliance with operational standards, and low accountability—did not appear to be addressed thoroughly. The recurrence of similar cases in a short period of time (January to September 2025) in various regions is the clearest evidence of this failure. Noble government programs such as MBG risk losing public trust if they are not accompanied by transparency, accountability, and real systemic improvements, rather than merely temporary incident management.
Agus Sarwono, a researcher at Transparency International Indonesia (TII), said that the MBG’s non-transparent monitoring mechanism was also a strong criticism from TII against this program.
“BGN also does not publish information about its internal oversight mechanisms. If they are unable to provide oversight internally, how can they be expected to provide oversight to us, the civil society, who are the mothers of the direct beneficiaries every day?” Agus criticized.
Stale Food, No Taste, and Burdening Teachers
Meanwhile, in Jepara Regency, Central Java, the condition of the food, which was stale, caused teachers at a number of kindergartens (TK), playgroups (KB), and Integrated Islamic Elementary Schools (SDIT) not to distribute the MBG menu that had been sent by the SPPG Yayasan AT kitchen to the schools to the students on Wednesday, September 17, 2025.
At around 7 a.m., the WhatsApp group consisting of SPPG administrators and MBG coordinator teachers from a number of schools that receive MBG from the SPPG Yayasan AT kitchen was flooded with complaints from teachers. They reported that the MBG side dishes that were delivered smelled bad, so they were not distributed to the students.
“I apologize, Mr. H, but I did not distribute this morning’s MBG from Tarbiyatul Athfal X Kindergarten to the children because the chicken was not fit for consumption. It smelled bad. Thank you,” said the kindergarten teacher.
Shortly after, a similar message was conveyed by a teacher from Study Group Y.
“Learning Group Y’s MBG for today was also not distributed to the children because the chicken smelled bad and was unfit for consumption. Only the fruit and milk were taken.”
Similar messages also came from teachers at SDIT and TK TA.
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In response to the complaints from several teachers, the SPPG management stated that they would recall the MBG packages that had been distributed and replace them.
“I apologize, ladies and gentlemen, I will withdraw the packages and replace them,” said H.
Upon learning that the MBG menu for that day was spoiled, the Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs—equivalent to junior high school) teacher who was scheduled to receive the food delivery from the SPPG Yayasan AT in the afternoon requested that the SPPG check the food again before sending it.
“Sir, please check the food for MTs Z again before sending it. If it’s stale, we won’t accept it,” said the MTs teacher.
The SPPG kitchen manager stated that they would recheck and replace the stale chicken menu. The chicken menu was eventually partially replaced with nuggets and the rest with salted eggs.
The MBG menu delivered to MTs Z on Wednesday (September 17, 2025) with the spoiled chicken menu had been replaced with nuggets. Photo: special.
In addition to the spoiled food, Diana (not her real name), a teacher at MTs Z, said that when the food trays reached the children and were opened, they often emitted an unpleasant odor. Diana suspected this was because the food was placed in the trays while still hot and then immediately covered. As a result, the food became damp, and when opened, it emitted an unpleasant aroma. Consequently, the children lost their appetite to eat.
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“More and more children are refusing to eat because they don’t like the food, they say. And the containers hold 10 trays each. So when each container is opened, it smells like overcooked food. The children have lost their appetite and only take fruit and milk,” said Diana.
In addition, the school where Diana teaches has a schedule of holidays every Friday, while Saturday and Sunday are still school days. On the other hand, the SPPG kitchen operates for 5 working days, Monday to Friday. Therefore, for the Friday MBG menu, dry food is provided, such as biscuits and the like.
So every Thursday, students receive two types of meals: a meal consisting of rice, side dishes, and vegetables to be eaten on Thursday, and biscuits to take home as their Friday MBG ration.
According to Diana, the MBG menu consisting of biscuits and similar items appears to be below the budget ceiling when considering the types of food distributed. This is because it only contains biscuits, nuts, small packaged milk drinks, and fruit.
One of the MBG menus distributed to MTs Z students for Friday. Photo: special.
In addition to the price, Diana expressed her uncertainty that MBG meals consisting of ultra-processed foods such as biscuits, nuts, packaged milk drinks, and similar items could meet children’s nutritional needs.
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Besides the food issue, according to Diana, the MBG program also burdens teachers with new tasks and responsibilities and disrupts the teaching and learning process.
The teaching and learning schedule at MTs Z starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m., with classes held six days a week. Fridays are holidays. Before the MBG program, there were two breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, each lasting 15 minutes.
MBG meals take more than 15 minutes because the food has to be carried, distributed, eaten, and then the trays have to be collected and stacked. Therefore, the teachers agreed to reduce the lesson time by 5 minutes for MBG meals.
So, if a subject originally lasted 40 minutes, it was reduced to 35 minutes. According to Diana, this reduction may not have much effect on subjects with a less dense curriculum. However, it will have a slight effect on subjects with a dense curriculum.
In addition, teachers have the additional task of supervising the distribution of MBG meals. This is because junior high school students still need supervision and assistance in distributing and collecting food containers before and after meals.
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Not to mention that the SPPG kitchen also refuses to accept input from the school. For example, for the distribution of dry food, SPPG uses small tote bags to put the food packages in. They argue that this is to avoid the use of plastic. However, these tote bags must be returned on the same day after the food distribution.
According to Diana, the initiative to reduce plastic waste is a good thing. However, the requirement to return the tote bags creates additional work for teachers. This means that on Thursdays, they have to collect the tote bags in addition to the food containers because two menus are distributed on that day.
If the intention is to reduce plastic waste, the tote bags could be replaced with paper ones, which are more environmentally friendly and do not need to be collected again. The school has conveyed this suggestion to the SPPG kitchen, but they remain adamant.
“We have already informed them, but SPPG said that using plastic tote bags would create a lot of waste. They could use paper tote bags, which can be recycled if they don’t want to cause a lot of waste. But they don’t want to listen to our suggestions. This makes it difficult for the teachers,” she explained.
Complaints about the quality of MBG food also came from parents in Makassar. Lani (not her real name) has two children who attend elementary and high school. Both of them receive the MBG program at their schools.
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Almost every day, Lani hears stories from her children, both elementary and high school, about MBG meals that have no taste. According to them, the food served tastes bland, so they are reluctant to eat it. After tasting the food and finding it tasteless, the children stop eating the meal.
“When you look at it in photos, it looks good. But sometimes they complains that there’s no salt, no flavor,” said Lani.
Since her children refuse to eat the MBG meals, Lani feels the program is a waste. The food provided goes to waste while the budget allocated is very large.
Lani then tried to convey her children’s complaints to the teachers and other parents through the school’s WhatsApp group. She even invited other parents to protest and reject the MBG program.
“Let’s reject this MBG program because it’s a waste,” she said.
However, some parents felt that there was no problem with the program. They considered the taste of the food to be normal. They actually felt helped by the MBG.
Sometimes her children only took the packaged milk or fruit, while leaving the food uneaten. On several occasions, her children said that the menu was delicious and tasty, especially when spaghetti and yellow rice were served.
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Because her child did not want to eat the MBG menu, Lani suggested that the food not be touched, be covered, and be returned. Meanwhile, some parents told their children to take the food home. The MBG food was transferred to containers brought from home and taken home so it would not go to waste.
According to Lani, in order to prevent MBG from going to waste, it should only be given to those who need it. So, if the aim is to really target underprivileged communities, the assistance should be given to the parents. They must be monitored to ensure that they provide their children with healthy food.
Another alternative is to manage MBG at the local level and on a small scale. For example, by handing it over to schools to manage. Schools can collaborate with school canteens that have been managing student meals. This way, the quality of the food can be better maintained.
Absence of Legal Protection and Governance
Issues arising in relation to MBG, such as food poisoning, are considered by some to be just the tip of the iceberg of various problems related to MBG. In fact, a number of issues related to MBG that are occurring today were predicted long ago.
Agus Sarwono, a researcher at TII, said that MBG was launched without a clear regulatory foundation. The populist nature of this program also exacerbates this regulatory vacuum.
“The cause of MBG’s failure is governance. There are no clear regulations. The presidential regulation itself has not been discussed at all. To our knowledge, it will only be discussed in 2025. This is a program that seeks popularity,” said Agus at a press conference in South Jakarta (23/9).
Marthin Hadiwinata from FIAN Indonesia emphasized that problems with this program arose even in its early months.
“Within one month, around February, we identified at least five problems.”
“Even before the surge in SPPG kitchens in February, we had already shown that MBG was problematic, with unclear concepts, inadequate planning, and chaotic implementation, indicating that MBG should be stopped,” Marthin stated firmly at the same event.
First Month, Five Major MBG Problems
This finding is the tip of the iceberg in the first month of the MBG, which FIAN cites as the reason for halting the MBG from the very &first month.
Source: FIAN, 2025 The total education budget for 2026 in the Draft State Budget (RAPBN) is 757.8 trillion.
Despite cases of poisoning and other governance criticisms since the first month of implementation, the program continues to be implemented, especially in Java.
As of September, based on data from the Ministry of Finance, the distribution of MBG recipients was highest in Java with 13.26 million people, followed by Sumatra with 4.86 million, Sulawesi with 1.70 million, Kalimantan with 1.03 million, Bali-Nusa Tenggara with 1.34 million, and Maluku-Papua with 0.52 million people. To date, the MBG has reached a total of 22.7 million recipients, with a year-end target of 82.9 million recipients.
Distribution of MBG Recipients Based on Ministry of Finance Data (September 2025)
(figures in millions)
The total absorption of MBG has reached 22.7 million recipients, with a year-end target of 82.9 million recipients. Source: Ministry of Finance
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Before the MBG program was implemented, a number of parties, including individuals such as doctor and nutritionist Dr. Tan Shot Yen and organizations such as CISDI, the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives, had already reminded the government of the importance of preparing governance. CISDI is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health sector development in Indonesia.
Dr. Tan Shot Yen protested against the MBG’s unhealthy food. The goal was to provide nutritious meals, but instead, the food provided was sachet sambal, burgers, chicken katsu, biscuits and high-sugar milk, and many other processed foods. During a hearing with members of the Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta on September 22, Dr. Tan voiced her protest.
“I want Papuan children to be able to eat sour soup, I want Sulawesi children to be able to eat kapurung. But what is happening is that from Lhoknga to Papua, what is being distributed is burgers, where wheat flour never grows on Indonesian soil. No young people know that wheat grows in Indonesia, but instead they are given spaghetti, Gacoan noodles, and burgers filled with processed meat. In the center, it’s better to give them chicken katsu, but in the regions they are given pink things that I would describe as processed meat, which tastes like pink cardboard, that’s not the goal of the MBG.”
Dr. Tan Shot Yen told Konde.co that it is important to remember that MBG has both short-term and long-term goals. The short-term goals include meeting the daily needs of vulnerable groups. However, this then expanded to include the prevention of stunting. The prevention of stunting is a long-term goal. This expansion has broadened the beneficiaries to include pregnant women, nursing mothers, and toddlers.
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In short, the short-term goal is to prevent hunger, while the long-term goal is to prevent malnutrition and chronic nutritional disorders in Indonesia. According to Tan, good governance is needed to achieve these goals.
For the short-term goal, Tan admitted that she had warned the government even before the MBG began about the importance of conducting an assessment or exploration.
“The assessment is a kind of exploration of the areas that will receive MBG. So, we cannot simply follow the president’s romantic ambitions,” she said.
Therefore, generalization cannot be applied in its implementation. This means that not everyone will receive MBG to avoid jealousy. In fact, the provision of MBG must be persistent and consistent.
These persistent and consistent factors are certainly not just a matter of food distribution, but also the quality of the food. That is why, according to Tan, it is important to assess which areas really need the MBG program.
At the outset, it was stated that the MBG program would target frontier and outermost regions. However, to date, the MBG program has not reached these regions. The reason is that these regions are not yet ready in terms of infrastructure. In fact, it is possible that not all regions need SPPG kitchens.
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Moreover, the requirements for establishing an SPPG kitchen require billions of rupiah in funding. This means that only those with large capital can establish an SPPG kitchen. It is therefore not surprising that the owners of SPPG kitchens are wealthy individuals, such as council members.
“So, if you pay attention, the owners of SPPGs are actually foundations. Because BGN does not want to be directly involved in the field, it communicates with the foundations that establish SPPGs. Who owns these foundations? Upon investigation, it turns out that they are owned by wealthy individuals,” said Tan.
The BGN also imposes a number of requirements on its SPPG partners, namely to recruit nutritionists, accountants, and cooks. Unfortunately, the SPPG recruits nutritionists who are inexperienced, even though the SPPG has to handle food processing in large portions.
Therefore, it is not surprising that there were leaks in the food security and safety chain. These food safety leaks could have occurred because HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) was not implemented.
“Before the MBG began, during the interview, I already reminded them of these five critical points. First, when raw materials are purchased; second, when food is stocked; third, when food is processed; fourth, when food is packaged; and fifth, when food is eaten,” she explained.
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Therefore, Tan emphasized that governance must be correct first. Diah Saminarsih, CEO of CISDI, expressed a similar sentiment. Diah said that before the MBG began, CISDI had already voiced the importance of good planning so that its implementation would also run smoothly.
“CISDI had already provided advice on how the MBG program should be planned first and then its implementation should be regulated properly and carefully, through existing processes and stages. So it should not be implemented immediately in very large quantities, absorbing a huge budget, but then after 8 months of implementation, we find cases of poisoning like this,” she explained to Konde.co.
She also regretted the attitude of BGN and the government, which ignored warnings from a number of parties when the cases first occurred. At that time, Diah admitted that CISDI had spoken out loudly, requesting that the MBG program be reviewed in terms of presentation standards, cooking standards, as well as packaging and distribution standards.
“Unfortunately, input from civil society was not seen as input based on concern, but rather as opposition. If the input from civil society, researchers, nutrition experts, supply chain and distribution experts had been listened to and implemented, what is happening now could have been avoided,” she explained.
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Diah also highlighted the lack of a platform that provides access to civil society, researchers, and the general public to see developments or at least report when dangerous incidents occur. That way, improvements can be made.
Regarding the large number of MBG food poisoning cases with 6,924 victims based on CISDI data, but no significant action has been taken against SPPG, Diah considers this to be the result of the absence of a legal umbrella.
“So, because the MBG Presidential Regulation has not been issued after 8 months, there is no accountability. There is no accountability for budget absorption because it is not written in a specific regulation. There is no law enforcement or stipulation regarding the implementation of regulations because as long as there is no Presidential Regulation, the only rules that apply are those passed on by word of mouth. Meanwhile, this program uses a very large state budget. So this is the root of our problem,” explained Diah.
For this reason, her party requested that the Presidential Regulation be issued immediately so that all parties would be bound to implement the regulations. This includes being responsible for the use of a very large state budget.
When a case of poisoning occurs, for example, it is necessary to regulate in the Presidential Regulation how it should be handled. Can the region stop it? Or must the region finance the budget? If, for example, the hospital costs are financed first, will the region be reimbursed for the hospital costs by the central government or by BGN? And so on.
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“So, these issues remain unanswered at this time because there is no Presidential Regulation that allows all relevant parties to fulfill their responsibilities according to their assigned tasks,” she concluded.
The MBG Budget Mess in Education
Without regulations governing nutritional standards, monitoring mechanisms, or budget distribution, the program has instead been launched as a massive project prone to waste. TII found indications of a very large allocation of funds for the preparation stage alone. Agus estimated that it would cost Rp3.61 billion to build one SPPG (Nutrition Service Unit) kitchen.
“In the context of preparation, we calculated the nutritional service fulfillment unit, the physical construction from the building to the kitchen equipment and on-premise, and we found a figure of around 3.61 billion for one SPPG kitchen. There is no baseline, and it’s not even that the regulations are unclear, but rather that there are no regulations,” said Agus.
Furthermore, Agus highlighted the lack of transparency from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) as the program implementer. He assessed that BGN did not even attempt to convey information on the progress of regulatory drafting or policy evaluation reports to the public.
“There is not the slightest intention on the part of the BGN to convey information on the progress of strengthening the regulations for the Free Nutritious Food program. You can check the BGN website; there is not the slightest intention on the part of the BGN to convey updates or developments on the drafting or strengthening of regulations and so on,” he explained.
Speaking of budget and transparency, Ubaid Matraji from the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) said that the main problem with MBG is not just uneaten food, but how education funds are allocated carelessly.
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“So, we are actually focusing on how the education budget is not being misused, allocated for non-priority interests. What we observe from our friends in the education sector is how the education budget is actually allocated to the basic needs of education. So we want things that are not basic educational needs to not be included in the education budget,” he said.
Each portion of MBG is valued at IDR 15,000, with IDR 10,000 for food ingredients, IDR 2,000 for kitchen rental, and IDR 3,000 for operational costs, including volunteer salaries. A simple calculation by Konde.co shows how significant the funding requirement for MBG is.
One SPPG kitchen that produces a minimum of 3,000 portions per day requires approximately Rp45 million per day, or Rp1.35 billion per month. Meanwhile, for the maximum quota of 4,000 portions, the cost jumps to Rp60 million per day or Rp1.8 billion per month.
With 9,231 SPPGs already in operation, daily calculations can exceed Rp480 billion per day. The expansion target of 24,000 kitchens by the end of 2025 will double the funding requirements to hundreds of trillions of rupiah, which will burden the state’s finances.
The workforce structure at one SPPG also shows an uneven distribution of workload. Of the 50 people working there, only three are core staff: one SPPG head (SPPI), one nutritionist, and one accountant. The remaining 47 are volunteers who work full time, eight hours a day. Their wages are not fixed, but are taken from the Rp3,000 per serving operational cost. This means that the larger the portion quota produced, the higher the chance for volunteers to receive a decent wage.
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In practice, volunteers can only earn an average of Rp80,000– Rp100,000 per day (1,760,000–2,200,000) for an 8-hour workday. If they do not work due to illness or other reasons, volunteers do not receive wages. Furthermore, there were reports, which were clarified by BGN itself, that the salaries of SPPG staff, including SPPI, nutritionists, and accountants, were paid up to three months late.
Ubaid firmly stated that MBG has damaged the education sector in terms of budget. He believes that three priority issues, namely the equitable distribution of educational facilities, children’s right to education, and teacher welfare, are threatened by the appropriation of the education budget for MBG.
“MBG has cut education funding, which has damaged the education sector. 60% of our elementary schools are still in poor condition. The funds should have been used to repair schools and add more desks. Why did MBG take the funds? MBG has damaged the education sector.”
“Currently, there are 4.2 million children of school age who cannot attend school due to economic factors. So, education funds should be allocated for that, not for meals. Then, when they go to school, there must be teachers. Currently, there are still many temporary teachers who are not recognized by the state: they are not included in the P3K scheme, the ASN scheme, and so on. But if they’re not at school, who will teach the children? Our teachers also have poor quality and are not certified. Nearly half of them, millions in number, should also be a priority,” Ubaid explained to Konde.co on Tuesday (September 23).
Education Budget in the State Budget
2016-2024 realization, 2025 outlook, 2026 RAPBN.
The MBG budget in 2025 will take 223 trillion (~67%) of the total MBG budget of 335 trillion.
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Institutionally, Ubaid emphasized that education has priority positions: the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the Ministry of Higher Education. However, in reality, education funds are being siphoned off to government schools and MBG.
“Unlike today, where civil service schools suddenly take hundreds of trillions from education funds, then suddenly there is the MBG program which also takes hundreds of trillions from education funds,” said Ubaid.
This situation, he asserted, is contrary to the actual condition of education, which is still lagging behind, marked by the low reading and arithmetic skills of Indonesian students, making it impossible to imagine a Golden Indonesia if its human resources are poor.
“How long will this continue if, for example, education funds are not focused, in accordance with Article 31 of the Constitution? The quality of our education today, in terms of reading and arithmetic skills alone, ranks us among the lowest countries in the world in terms of average student ability. What will become of our dream of a Golden Indonesia, an advanced Indonesia? There is no advanced country with poor children or poor human resources,” he explained.
In the 2026 State Budget, the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program absorbed an allocation of Rp335 trillion. This amount makes MBG the largest expenditure item in education spending for that year.
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When compared to allocations for the three other main programs, the difference is striking. Teacher and lecturer allowances are allocated Rp178.7 trillion, school assistance for children, which includes scholarships, the Indonesia Smart Program (PIP), and the Indonesia Smart Card (KIP), only receives Rp57.8 trillion, while School Operational Assistance (BOS) receives Rp64.3 trillion.
When added together, these three items total Rp300.8 trillion. This amount is still smaller than the standalone MBG program, which stands at Rp335 trillion.
This comparison highlights a number of issues. First, the MBG budget exceeds the combined budget for teacher/lecturer allowances, school assistance for children, and BOS. Second, the budget for teacher/lecturer welfare is lower than the MBG, even though teachers are the main actors in the education process. Third, direct assistance for students through scholarships, PIP, and KIP is the smallest, with a nominal value far below that of the MBG. Finally, the BOS, which supports daily school operations, also receives an allocation below that of a single nutritious meal program.
Comparison of Education Program Budgets in the 2026 Draft State Budget
(in trillions)
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The BOS program, school assistance for children, and teacher/lecturer allowances, when added together, do not match the MBG budget. The total education budget for 2026 in the RAPBN is 757.8 trillion. Infographic: Luthfi Maulana A/Konde.co
With a budget allocation of Rp335 trillion in 2026, the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program consumes an exceptionally large portion of the state budget. If this figure is applied to other areas of education, the scale of the comparison is striking. With the School Operational Assistance (BOS) cost even increased from the previous budget, which is IDR 2 million per student per year, this budget could finance the education of 167.5 million children. This means that by simply diverting the MBG funds, almost all Indonesian children could have their school fees fully covered for a year.
Not only that, assuming that building one school in frontier and outermost regions costs around Rp5 billion, the Rp335 trillion fund could build 67,000 new schools. This amount could revolutionize access to education in marginalized areas, where students have to travel for hours just to reach their classrooms. Building schools on this scale is not only a matter of physical infrastructure, but also of opening up more equal educational opportunities across the country.
In terms of teaching staff, if calculated based on the national average minimum wage standard of Rp3 million per month or Rp36 million per year, the MBG funds could be used to pay more than 9.3 million honorary teachers for a full year. In fact, the number of honorary teachers currently registered is far less than that figure.
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This means that with one year of MBG funding, the classic problem of uncertainty regarding the wages of honorary teachers can be resolved comprehensively, providing a decent standard of living while strengthening the quality of teaching in schools.
These fantastic figures are derived from simple calculations. To get a closer look and verify these calculations, let’s play around with the numbers for a moment:
The above calculation only provides an estimate. However, this rough calculation can help estimate how significant the impact of a budget policy is on the future of education for millions of children.
For JPPI, the root of the problem lies in a misguided central system because national education policy is not being implemented in accordance with the constitution, so it needs to be stopped and evaluated in its entirety.
“Yes, so this is about the system. So, yes, whether we like it or not, we have to fix the system at the central level. Because this is about fixing the system at the central level, yes, it must be stopped. It must be stopped immediately, then evaluated completely,” Ubaid emphasized.
A Closed Door to Criticism
Sandra Pratiwi, a mother of three children who attend public junior high and high schools in East Jakarta, has also experienced the dynamics of the MBG program first hand. Sandra said that her two children’s schools participate in the MBG program. From the beginning, she felt that there was a discrepancy between the program’s objectives and its implementation in the field.
“My daughter has been participating in this program since she enrolled in the school in July. Now, for junior high school, we were just told to make a list. Previously, I heard that there were no surveys, for example, about what allergies the children had, whether they could eat this or that. Yesterday, the homeroom teacher shared it in the group, and parents were told to note their children’s allergies, whether to eggs, shrimp, or meat, or certain foods that they cannot eat because of possible poisoning effects,” she explained.
Sandra’s experience shows the difference between her child’s high school and junior high school. When she attended an event at the high school, she witnessed the MBG distribution process first hand. She testified that when the MBG was distributed, children were allowed to take it home in their own lunch boxes if they didn’t like it, which would then be thrown away and end up as food waste.
“At the high school, I once visited the school. At that time, there was an event at the school, and I saw that the MBG had just arrived with canned equipment. They even opened it themselves, and the officers looked busy.”
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“When my child first entered the school, the school emphasized, ‘When you go to school, please bring your own lunch box.’ So when MBG is distributed, if they don’t like it, they can just take it home. So according to the report, the MBG is indeed clean. But they were clean not because the children ate them, but because they were taken home and thrown away,” Sandra said at a press conference in South Jakarta on Tuesday (September 22).
According to Sandra, the food was thrown away because the food that was brought home was no longer fit for consumption after waiting for hours in lunch boxes and containers.
“By making lunch boxes that contain carbohydrates and protein, they will definitely be fresher. If they are cut at 3 a.m. and then eaten at 10 a.m., I think they are no longer fit for consumption and will taste sour. And that’s why they end up being thrown away. I asked my child, ‘Why isn’t this being eaten?’ ‘The watermelon is sour, Mom. It’ll give me a stomachache,’ my child said. In the end, it’s wasted, thrown away for nothing, not eaten either. And the children generally don’t want to eat that menu,” she continued.
She gave another example that she believed was far from meeting nutritional standards. At the time, her child’s school served dim sum, which made her question its nutritional value.
“Once, there was an event where the menu included dim sum. Where is the nutritional value in that? I mean, there are no vegetables, or other nutritious component. At the very least, if there is no milk, there should be fruit, carbohydrates, protein, and side dishes, whether plant-based or animal-based,” she complained.
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Like other foods, the dimsum was then brought home by her child. Meanwhile, at her daughter’s school, she had encountered food conditions such as dry tempeh and tough chicken.
She is sceptical about the time between cooking the food and serving it to the students, which she believes causes the food to become unfit for consumption.
“Yes, dim sum is taken by home. At my daughter’s school, there has been no such incident. If they are given tempeh, it is already a bit dry, and the chicken is tough. Maybe, in my opinion, they don’t know what time it is cooked, right? (Maybe) midnight? As far as I know, the time between when the food is cooked and when it should be consumed is two to three hours,” she explained.
Sandra also feels that parents find it difficult to voice their criticisms because, in her view, the school itself is reluctant to challenge the status quo.
The power dynamics with the highest authority above the school make the school, in Sandra’s view as a parent, more inclined to comply with government regulations.
“That’s why I think criticizing the government, especially the school, will not be taken seriously. If I say something, the school will say, ‘Ma’am, why are you complaining? Just eat it, ma’am. Let’s just follow the President’s program.’ It can’t be like that, right? There are still many other things that should be supported by the government.”
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“Honestly, if parents like us protest at school, our school is not actually afraid of us, nor does it refuse to accept us, but they are submissive to their superiors. ‘Come on, ma’am, just enjoy it,’ school is free, where else can we go?” she confided.
Sandra’s reflections were validated by Ubaid Matraji from the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) and Agus Sarwono, a researcher at Transparency International Indonesia (TII). Both agreed that both the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and other government agencies seemed to respond to criticism in a normative manner.
“We have a track record. Since the SPPG program began, there have been cases of food poisoning. And every time we protest, we remind them, during hearings with parliament and the government, the response is always: ‘We will correct it, we will improve it.’ But based on that track record, what are the results of the corrections? What are the results of the improvements while the program continues to run in those kitchens? In fact, the number of victims has increased. It has even tripled, not just doubled. From hundreds to thousands. In just one week, the number of victims can increase by thousands,” said Ubaid at a press conference.
Meanwhile, Agus believes that BGN has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear because there has been no progress after TII and other civil society organizations offered constructive criticism of the MBG program.
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“BGN seems to be turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to MBG’s criticism,” he said.
The Free Nutritious Meals Program (MBG), initiated by Prabowo Subianto since the beginning of his administration in 2025, is often touted as a major breakthrough in health and education. In various speeches, he referred to MBG as a “national investment,” even emphasizing that this program had received international appreciation. Prabowo also repeatedly emphasized the massive scale of its achievements, such as in early May 2025, when the number of beneficiaries reached 3.4 million children, at the end of August it was claimed to be 22 million, and the target for November was 82.9 million people.
When facing criticism about mass poisoning, he emphasized in numerical logic that, “out of more than three million recipients, only about 200 experienced stomach problems, 5 were hospitalized, meaning that the success rate of MBG is 99.99 percent.”
MBG: An Idea That Was Previously Implemented During the New Order Era
Looking back, MBG is not an entirely new idea. During the New Order era, the government launched the School Children Supplementary Feeding Program (PMT-AS) in the early 1990s. PMT-AS was designed to address malnutrition in elementary schools, especially in disadvantaged areas.
The meals prepared took the form of snacks such as green bean porridge, milk, boiled eggs, and biscuits, which were distributed regularly. The program was accompanied by nutrition education, deworming, and iron tablets for students. In the 1996/1997 fiscal year, PMT-AS reached more than two million children in villages classified as Underdeveloped Areas (IDT) during the New Order era.
However, PMT-AS was not without problems. In August 1997 in Banyumas, dozens of students vomited and felt dizzy after eating green bean porridge from the program; 82 children were suspected of being poisoned. An even more tragic case occurred in North Lampung when 198 children were poisoned by supplementary food, two of whom died. Tests showed that the food had been stored for too long, causing it to become contaminated with E. coli and Staphylococcus bacteria.
This pattern was repeated in Prabowo’s MBG. Before the end of its first year, thousands of cases of poisoning were reported in various regions. Investigations showed that the main causes were no different from those during the New Order era: food was cooked in a hurry, not stored hygienically, and contaminated with bacteria due to inadequate distribution.
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Prabowo revived his father-in-law’s old idea of providing nutritious meals to school children, but wrapped it up in a much more ambitious national scale and a huge budget.
In addition, Prabowo’s repeated rhetoric of 99.99 percent success is reminiscent of the New Order style, which emphasized spectacular success rates while reducing tragedies in the field to minor incidents. This is where MBG shows itself to be a direct continuation of the New Order legacy, with the noble goal of providing nutrition to the nation’s children, but also with the same risks if hygiene and supervision are not strengthened.
Eva Nurcahyani from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) revealed the large number of complaints received by ICW. These complaints include unpaid kitchen volunteers, teachers burdened with additional tasks, and nutritional standards that do not meet the needs of students, including children in special schools (SLB) and those with food allergies.
“So many beneficiaries have ended up being disadvantaged,” she said.
Furthermore, Eva Nurcahyani highlighted a deeper aspect of who actually controls the MBG. According to her, from the beginning, this program has strayed from its objectives by making the military the foundation of the program.
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“The military is involved in logistics, production, and food distribution. Well, from the involvement of the TNI and Polri, we can see that this is not in accordance with the main duties of the TNI based on Law Number 34 of 2004.”
“The school environment should be a safe and child-friendly space, not a place of military control. And we see that this phenomenon ultimately reveals a trend of militarization of civilian spaces that contradicts the principles of democracy and professionalism in public service,” explained Eva.
As is well known, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is dominated by individuals with backgrounds in the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri). Six of the ten highest-ranking officials in the BGN come from TNI-Polri backgrounds. One of these six figures is Major General (Ret.) Dadang Hendrayudha, who was linked to the Mawar Team during the kidnappings of activists in 1997-1998.
In the highest echelons of government, aside from the absence of civil society representatives and nutrition and food experts, there is only one woman who was appointed on September 17, 2025, namely Nanik S. Deyang. She was appointed as Deputy Head I of the Agency for the Acceleration of Poverty Alleviation for the 2024-2029 period by President Prabowo Subianto. On June 12, 2025, Ninik, who was involved in the Ratna Sarumpaet hoax case when she was deputy chair of the Prabowo-Sandi campaign team in the 2019 presidential election, was also appointed as an Independent Commissioner of Pertamina.
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The head of the SPPG kitchen, selected through the Indonesian Development Activist Program (SPPI), has also been the target of criticism. The program, which collaborates with the Ministry of Defense through military education, is considered far from the mark when it comes to food and nutrition.
“Actually, from the outset, Bappenas made a mistake in initiating the MBG. It chose the Ministry of Defense as a partner, which ultimately produced the Indonesian Development Activist Scholars (SPPI) program, whose educational system is also a military education system that does not teach about nutrition and other related matters. That was a big mistake,” hse said.
In addition to Eva Nurcahyani’s statement, Konde.co also found that the SPPI selection process was rife with gender bias. In the third batch of SPPI selections, the organizers only accepted a quota of 10 percent women out of a total of around 30,000 participants. This is in stark contrast to the claim made by BGN Chairman Dadan Hendiyana, who stated that the MBG program would absorb female workers.
“When this program reaches its target of 82.9 million beneficiaries through 30,000 SPPGs, it is estimated that it will absorb up to 1.5million workers, 55% of whom are women,” said Dadan in a written statement in Jakarta on Sunday (4/27/2025).
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Women are only given a 10 percent quota because all Indonesian Development Activists (SPPI) are required to undergo military training and are designated as defense reserves (Komcad) who can be assigned to situations deemed difficult by the state.
This was stated by the Indonesian Defense University in its clarification on Instagram as follows:
Regarding the selection results, we understand that many female participants have not yet succeeded in entering the group of those who passed. This is due to several considerations, including:
a. There is a quota restriction for women of only 10 percent, because all SPPI will undergo basic military training and will be designated as the State Defense Reserve Component, which, in addition to serving in the SPPG (Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit), can also be assigned other tasks in difficult areas and terrains when the state requires it.
b. There is a quota restriction per district/city in accordance with the allocation of SPPG (Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units) in each district/city, where priority is given to applicants from districts/cities in accordance with the allocation of SPPG.
Konde.co also found that the police are involved as MBG partners through the SPPG. There are at least 24 operational SPPGs registered under the name of the police in various regions.
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In addition to the Indonesian National Police, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) is also actively involved as a partner of SPPG in various regions, both through its military wing, such as the Military Welfare Cooperative Unit (SKKP), and other units. According to Konde.co’s research from various press releases and media coverage, the TNI is targeting at least 710 SPPG kitchens managed by their three branches.
The ownership of SPPG kitchens also brings up the name Prabowo Subianto. Based on a report by BGN, one of the SPPGs in Depok, namely SPPG Kebayunan, is owned by PT GSI, a business entity under the National Solidarity Movement Foundation (GSN). The GSN Foundation itself was founded by Prabowo, who is listed as its chairman.
Prabowo’s cronies, such as Hashim Djojohadikusumo, are also administrators of the GSN Foundation. In addition to Hasyim, there are Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Simon Aloysius Mantiri in the foundation’s management structure.
Nanik S. Deyang, who was recently appointed as Deputy Chair of the BGN, is also involved as Deputy Chair of this foundation. The GSN itself originated from an idea of the Prabowo-Gibran National Campaign Team (TKN) in the 2024 presidential election.
Ubaid feels that this precedent opens up a wide gap for conflicts of interest between law enforcement officials and programs that are supposed to aim to improve the welfare of the people.
“There are beneficial ownership loopholes that ultimately lead to conflicts of interest between other parties,” she said.
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ICW also concluded that the Free Nutritious Food (MBG) program has deviated from its original purpose of fulfilling citizens’ nutritional rights. Instead of being an instrument for improving nutrition, this program has been hijacked by the political and economic interests of a handful of elites. The MBG program is run without careful planning, with minimal transparency, low accountability, and without public participation.
The impact is not only in the form of poisoning cases and losses suffered by citizens, but also shows a form of structural corruption through policy hijacking. Due to poor governance and repeated losses, ICW insists that the MBG program should be stopped.
“In this case, the conclusion that we at ICW can draw is that in the context of the implementation of the MBG program, we see how an unwise policy has been hijacked by the state. Instead of addressing nutritional needs, this program is actually being implemented without clear planning, with minimal transparency, low accountability, and without meaningful public participation.”
“And we see that this policy, which should be an instrument for fulfilling citizens’ rights to nutrition, has instead turned into a political and economic tool that benefits a small elite,” emphasized Eva Nurcahyani.
The Best Course of Action Is to Stop
From the existing criticism, it is clear that the MBG is not just a nutrition program, but a reflection of the country’s fragile governance. Education funds are being drained, regulations are empty, implementation is chaotic and there are many victims, conflicts of interest are rampant, and even civil space is threatened by militarization.
Konde.co summarizes the recommendations from the institutions that are members of the Civil Society Coalition to Monitor MBG, namely ICW, JPPI, FIAN, and TII, as follows:
The government must immediately halt the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals Program (MBG) because it has proven to be riddled with problems, poor governance, minimal accountability, and has repeatedly harmed citizens. This suspension is crucial to prevent further harm to the community.
Following the suspension, a comprehensive evaluation must be conducted involving the public at large—particularly students, teachers, parents, and civil society groups—with the following objectives:
1. More careful planning based on the real needs of citizens
2. Independent oversight mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest and corrupt practices.
3. Transparency and accountability in budgeting, including open reporting on the use of public funds.
4. Program orientation that truly serves the interests of residents, not merely the political or economic interests of the elite.
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As Marthin from FIAN Indonesia said, the only way forward is for the government to take a clear stance. For them, the solution is not to continue the program in its current problematic state, but to suspend it, evaluate it, and then redesign it with measurable targets.
“Reading the process that has been going on, I think this MBG should be stopped. Since February, we have stated that it should be stopped, evaluated, then the concept and implementation should be improved, including which baseline we will target, which areas, which schools,” he said.
Editor’s Note: Konde.co attempted to contact BGN through Dadan
Hindayana on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, via messaging application. As of the publication of this article, no response or comment has been received.
(This coverage is part of Konde.co’s September 2025 Special Edition, which features reporting and gender-focused data journalism related to the Free Nutritious Meals Program (MBG) launched by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in January 2025).
Special Edition Team
Coordinator: Luthfi Maulana Adhari
Reporters: Anita Dhewy and Luthfi Maulana Adhari
Research & Mapping: Luthfi Maulana Adhari
Editor: Luviana Ariyanti
