Jakarta – The government’s flagship Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program continues to show significant progress. By the end of April 2025, as many as 3.3 million students in various regions of Indonesia have benefited from this program, exceeding the initial target set by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN).
The Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hinayana, said that this achievement is proof of the initial success of the implementation of the MBG program, which was initiated as part of the commitment of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka to improve the quality of Indonesian Human Resources (HR) through early nutritional interventions.
“So far, it is in accordance with the target, because actually our target until April was 3 million beneficiaries. Alhamdulillah, it has been achieved and even more,” said Dadan.
Dadan added that BGN is currently focusing its efforts to pursue a new target, namely reaching 6 million students by August 2025. By the end of May or early June, his party hopes that the number of beneficiaries can reach 4 million students.
“The President has instructed us to remain enthusiastic about working, working more carefully, more precisely. Because this is a strategic program, a program for investing in future human resources,” said Dadan.
In addition, Member of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Irma Suryani, also appreciated the achievement and emphasized the importance of improving the supervision system in the field. She acknowledged that MBG is a new program with great challenges, but its long-term benefits are very influential.
“Managing the MBG program is not easy, this is a new program with a large budget and massive output targets. We must also honestly admit that this is not a simple job,” said Irma.
Not only BGN officers, Irma also invited all parties to actively participate in supervision in the field. According to her, the success of this program is very dependent on the involvement of all parties.
The Free Nutritious Meal Program is expected to not only reduce stunting rates, but also increase student concentration and achievement. With a comprehensive and collaborative approach, the government is optimistic that MBG will be an important foundation in forming a healthier and smarter future generation.
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