Septia Ryanthie, Klaten – President Prabowo Subianto said that many Indonesian children have yet to receive the Free Nutritious Meals (FNM) program.
He made the statement during a speech at the launch of the Red and White Village Cooperative in Bentangan Village, Wonosari District, Klaten Regency, Central Java, on Monday, July 21, 2025.
"I traveled from Solo to Klaten and saw people along the road. School children shouted, 'Sir, we haven't received the Free Nutritious Meals. Sir, when?'. I looked into their eyes. These are the people of Indonesia. I couldn't bear it," Prabowo said during his speech.
According to Prabowo, only 6.7 million children are currently benefiting from the program. He explained that the government has not been able to expand coverage more quickly due to various regulations and technical provisions.
However, he promised that all children in Indonesia would have access to free nutritious meals by the end of this year.
"God willing, by the end of this year, all Indonesian children can receive nutritious meals," he stated.
Following the cooperative launch event, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, said that 2,157 nutrition service units (SPPGs) are currently serving 6.7 million beneficiaries.
"Hopefully, by this week, the number will reach 7 million," Dadan added.
He also mentioned that between 10,000 and 11,000 development activist graduates (SPPI) will be deployed this week to verified SPPGs in order to meet operational targets.
"Initially, we aimed to reach 20 million beneficiaries by the end of August. But if even 80 percent of what we are targeting meets the requirements, it may go beyond that. It seems this program will progress much faster," he said.
BGN has been coordinating with the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has issued a circular instructing regional governments to establish task forces in each province and district.
These task forces will work alongside BGN to accelerate implementation, particularly in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions.
Dadan emphasized that the success of the program depends on three factors: budget, human resources, and infrastructure. The budget is available, and human resources are in place, leaving infrastructure as the main focus.
He aims to complete infrastructure development by the end of October, allowing the program to reach 82.9 million beneficiaries by late November or early December.
He also acknowledged that the initial plan, backed by a Rp71 trillion budget, aimed for 17.5 million beneficiaries. However, with acceleration efforts now underway, BGN is working toward a significantly larger target.
Dadan further noted that the agency is also prioritizing food safety. "Our target is zero incidents. If any still occur, we will do everything we can to prevent them from happening again," he said.
To address safety concerns, BGN is strengthening its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the FNM program. This includes retraining supervisors and organizing additional training and workshops to improve implementation and oversight.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2031179/prabowo-vows-free-nutritious-meals-for-all-children-by-year-en