JAKARTA: With a budget nearing one-tenth of this year’s state spending, President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free nutritious meal programme faces mounting pressure to justify its cost, amid criticism over food safety incidents, weak oversight and competing policy priorities.
Launched on Jan. 6 last year to help address stunting, the programme initially operated just 190 kitchens, known as Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG), serving around 570,000 children in selected cities.
In less than a year, it expanded to more than 17,000 kitchens nationwide, feeding nearly 50.4 million recipients including students, infants and pregnant women as of Dec. 15, backed by a Rp 71 trillion (US$4.25 billion) allocation, even though absorption was only 81 per cent until the end of the year.
Prabowo has repeatedly praised the breakneck pace of the rollout, which he said has drawn international plaudits, and is seeki
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