Program: MBG Program Direct Intervention to Overcome Stunting

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto reiterated his commitment to eradicating stunting and poverty, one of which is through the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program.

In the inauguration and groundbreaking speech of 1.179 SPPG and 18 Food Security Warehouse of the National Police in Palmerah, Jakarta, President Prabowo stated that the policy was a strategic step for the government to improve the quality of human resources from an early age.

According to the president, the program is designed to overcome stunting, which is still a major challenge in Indonesia. He explained that stunting is a condition of malnutrition that has an impact on the development of body cells, including brain cells, bones, and children's muscles.

"Jadistuntingakibat also from the process of poverty alleviation, the Indonesian people's poverty alleviation project. Stunting at that time was 25 percent of our children. We cannot with theory, we cannot just with words, just with beautiful programs," said the President as reported by ANTARA, Friday, February 13.

President Prabowo said the government chose a direct intervention approach to vulnerable groups, such as children, pregnant women, and the elderly who are unable to. He emphasized that similar policies have also been implemented by dozens of countries in the world.

For example, the President alluded to the success of the free feeding program in India which has been running for more than a decade. In fact, according to him, India's per capita income is only half that of Indonesia.

In addition, the program also has a strong legal umbrella and reaches hundreds of millions of people.

In his speech, President Prabowo also responded to criticism that the program was a waste of state budget.

He assessed the accusation as a form of negative campaign that did not consider the needs of low-income people.

The Head of State emphasized that funding for the free nutritious meal program came from the results of state budget efficiency.

The government is making savings on various activities that are considered less productive, including meetings, seminars, and official travel that do not provide direct benefits to the community.

"This money is the result of savings. The result of efficiency from the budget that I and my team believe that if we do not save, this money will be eaten by corruption. It will be spent to enrich individuals," he said.