Free Lunch Starting January 2025, Gerindra: The Budget Only Exists

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the Gerindra Party, Rahayu Saraswati, confirmed that the free nutritious food program for the Prabowo-Gibran government will only be implemented in January 2025. According to Rahayu, its implementation can only be carried out next year because the budget is currently not available.

"The budget is new, for next year it will be as simple as eating free nutrition, this is a very big effort," said Rahayu, Monday, October 28.

Rahayu said that the reason the budget was not yet available was only due to technical matters. Namely the 2025 State Budget adjustment.

"So it must be seen from the APBN submitted by the government for 2025 which means that it must also be changed and with a new cabinet there must be adaptations made, changes made from the APBN proposed for 2025. So that's why it's very technical to eat nutritious for free," he explained.

But previously, Rahayu said, trials and socialization will first be implemented until the end of the year. "We still have a lot of trials, socialization, preparation because we need approximately 48,000 kitchens throughout Indonesia," said the Deputy Chairman of Commission VII of the DPR.

However, the woman who is familiarly called Sara emphasized that the implementation of free nutritious meals next year will not be given directly to all, but only priority areas. However, he was reluctant to reveal which areas would be a priority first.

"Maybe not for all in the first year, we have conveyed everything during the campaign that indirect 82 million recipients will receive it in the first year," he concluded.

Previously, the Head of the National Nutrition Agency Dadan Hindayana ensured that President Prabowo Subiantoyakni Eat Free Nutrition (MBG) program would be implemented starting January 2, 2025.

This was conveyed by Dadan after attending the inaugural cabinet (sidkab) session of the Prabowo-Gibran government at the State Palace, Wednesday, October 23.

"So (January 2, 2025). In principle, this program must run and everyone must help this program can run," said Dadan.