JAKARTA — The Indonesian agency overseeing President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals programme will "refocus" its measures by cutting back on new kitchens and targeting recipients in more remote areas, its new chief said on Thursday.
Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, the new chief of the National Nutrition Agency, was speaking a day after her predecessor was arrested on corruption charges relating to the way the scheme was run.
The details are as follows:
Nanik said the "efficiency" measures came after the Southeast Asian country slashed the allocation for the programme this year to 268 trillion rupiah (S$19.1 billion) from the initial 335 trillion rupiah.
"The refocusing measures are aimed at ensuring more efficient use of available resources through stronger governance, improved service quality, optimisation of existing operational kitchens, and more targeted delivery of benefits, particularly in underserved and remote areas," she said.
Nanik added the measures are not a reduction of the government's commitment to the free meal programme.
Nanik's predecessor, Dadan Hindayana, was arrested for alleged corruption offences, including marking up procurement prices. Dadan was sacked by Prabowo on Tuesday.
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 (S$19.3 billion) to provide free meals to 83 million children and pregnant women across the sprawling archipelago.
Nanik said her agency was not focused on hitting the 83 million target for 2026 but on making sure existing kitchens are up to code and healthy.
To ease the pressures on the state budget, the agency is considering other sources of funding for the programme, including grants or CSR 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.
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.
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