Prabowo: Indonesia's MBG Program for Pregnant Women Likely the 'Only One' in the World

April 23, 2025 | 05:09 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto claimed the free nutritious meal (MBG) program targeting pregnant women to be the only one in the world.

“We are probably the only country in the world to provide free meals to pregnant mothers, to deliver the food to their homes,” he said during a speech at the Indonesia Planting Movement in Banyuasin, South Sumatra, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

Prabowo claimed several countries are seeking to study the free meal program, but the government has yet to open the opportunity to allow the program to reach a one-year mark first.

The president said all potential resources are mobilized to run the program, even through direct deliveries to the pregnant people. Even so, Prabowo ensured nobody would be forced to accept the free meals.

Researcher from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Dewi Anggraeni, previously suggested that the government stop the free nutritious meal program due to problematic implementations.

The polemics between the public kitchen partners and the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) partner foundation in Kalibata, Jakarta, have added to the long list of drawbacks with the project. “It’s better to stop it now instead of letting it get more chaotic going forward,” said Dewi when contacted on Friday, April 18, 2025.

The MBG kitchen owned by Ira Mesra, a partner of the BGN foundation, has been forced to stop operations since the 2025 Eid holiday season after suffering up to Rp975.3 million in losses.

Ira's attorney, Danna Harly Putra, said the material losses were caused by the unpaid costs of raw materials and operational needs from the BGN partner, the Berkat Media Nusantara Foundation (MBN).

Head of BGN Dadan Hindayana on Wednesday, April 16, summoned both parties to mediate and find out more about the problem. It was discovered that the foundation and the kitchen partner were not one entity, as is often the case with BNG partners. The free nutritious meal kitchen has since been resuming operation. 

Andi Adam Fathurrahman contributed to this article.

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