February 18, 2025
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto‘s flagship free meals program for schoolchildren and pregnant women has encountered several challenges during its first month of implementation.
The program’s first phase was launched on Jan. 6, with an aim to distribute nutritious meals to 500,000 students. The government aims to gradually increase the number of recipients to 17.5 million by December and, eventually, 82 million by the final year of Prabowo’s administration in 2029.
Despite these ambitious goals, however, reports emerged on Sunday revealing that the government had suspended the free meals program for nearly 3,000 students across 18 schools in Sumenep Regency, East Java.
Kusniah, acting headmistress of SD Pandian I State Elementary School in Kota district, stated that she received the information via a circular sent to a WhatsApp group of school officials whose institutions are beneficiaries of the free meals program.
“The circular announced that the program will be halted starting Monday. However, it did not specify when it will be resumed,” she said on Sunday, as reported by Kompas.
Schools are now scrambling to notify parents about the abrupt decision, urging them to ensure their children have breakfast and bring lunch to school.
Head of the Sumenep free meals kitchen, Mohammad Kholilur Rahman, explained that the decision to suspend the free meals program in the regency was taken due to a “technical problem” within the organizer.
He declined to provide further details on the issue, but confirmed that he reported it to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) last Wednesday.
“We are working to resume the free meals program next week, but we are still awaiting further instructions from the BGN,” he said on Sunday, as quoted by Tribunnews.
BGN head Dadan Hindayana said on Monday that the free meals program in Sumenep Regency would not be permanently halted and would resume on Tuesday.
It was not the only hiccup encountered by the free meals program in recent days.
In Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency, Papua Highlands, the rollout of the free meals program faced a setback as thousands of schoolchildren took to the streets to protest the initiative, which was scheduled to launch in various regions in Papua on Monday.
On Sunday, the protest turned violent after the police blocked thousands of junior high and high school students who rallied against the initiative from marching toward the local Regional Legislative Council (DPRD).
Police fired tear gas at the protesters, who responded by throwing rocks.
On Monday, around 3,500 junior high, high school and university students in Wamena staged another protest in front of the Jayawijaya Regent’s office to continue their opposition.
One of the protesters, Rohex Relembo, explained that they were rejecting the program because they believed the funds allocated for free meals should instead be redirected to ensure free education in the province.
“The number of illiterate people and those living in poverty in the Papua region is the highest in the country. However, school tuition in the region is still very expensive, and many teachers are not actively teaching,” Rohex said on Monday.
Several protesters also cited concerns over food safety as one of the reasons for rejecting the free meals program, following multiple incidents of food poisoning, Tribunnews reported.
At least two food poisoning incidents linked to the free meals program occurred last month.
In Sukoharjo, Central Java, 40 students from SD Dukuh 03 State Elementary School fell ill after consuming undercooked chicken in lunches provided by a caterer at a local army base.
Meanwhile, dozens of students and several teachers at a state elementary school in Nunukan, North Kalimantan, reported suffering from diarrhea after consuming the prepared meals. (nal)