JAKARTA: The Indonesian agency overseeing President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meals initiative says it is no longer prioritising its target of reaching 82.9 million beneficiaries this year, shifting its focus instead to improving the quality of the programme’s implementation.
“It is possible we will not pursue the target of 82 million (beneficiaries) but instead, we want these kitchens to be healthy and provide nutritious meals,” said Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, the new chief of the National Nutrition Agency, on Thursday (Jun 4) as quoted by local news outlet Detik.
She was speaking a day after her predecessor was arrested on corruption charges relating to the way the scheme was run.
The agency will also “refocus” its budget by cutting back on new kitchens and targeting recipients in more remote areas, Nanik said.
She added that the agency’s new focus is to improve kitchens that are already operational so that they meet health and food-quality standards.
Kitchens that fail to meet these standards will be evaluated and may face temporary suspension, she warned, adding that the agency would also focus on prioritising recipients living in remote areas.
To ease the pressures on the state budget, the nutrition agency is considering other sources of funding for the programme, including grants or corporate social responsibility programmes from private companies, she said.
The agency would also determine which areas have sufficient kitchens and limit new applications, she said. There are over 27,000 kitchens operational across the archipelago.
In the underdeveloped and outermost areas, the agency plans to use alternative models such as school canteens and community kitchens to reduce infrastructure costs, reported Jakarta Globe.
“We don’t have to build new kitchens, we can also use existing facilities like school canteens,” Nanik reportedly said.
Priority will be given to vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers, local media reported.
Nanik added that the new budget priorities came after the Southeast Asian country slashed the allocation for the programme this year to 268 trillion rupiah (US$14.87 billion) from the initial 335 trillion rupiah.
Nanik’s predecessor, Dadan Hindayana, was arrested for alleged corruption offences, including marking up procurement prices. He was earlier sacked by Prabowo on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the agency’s new deputy head Agustina Arumsari on Thursday said reforms would also focus on stronger internal controls, improved data integration, and more systematic monitoring to ensure accountability, Jakarta Globe reported.
The ambitious free meals programme was a key part of Prabowo’s campaign to win the presidency in 2024, with the government budgeting at least US$15 billion to provide free meals to 83 million children and pregnant women across the sprawling archipelago.
The free meals programme has come under intense scrutiny since its launch in January 2025, with investors wary of Prabowo’s big spending plans and worried that fiscal deficit thresholds could be challenged.
The programme has been linked to cases of food poisoning that had affected at least 33,000 children as of April, according to Network for Education Watch, a non-governmental organisation.