In Bali, the MBG Program Continues During Ramadan

DENPASAR - Free nutritious meal packages (MBG) for students at schools in Bali during the fasting month continue to roll.

"If in Bali it is indeed the majority of Hindu students, then the MBG will continue as usual, given wet menus and so on," said the Coordinator of the Bali Provincial BGN, Risca Christina, as reported by ANTARA.

Risca in Denpasar, Tuesday, explained that the Bali BGN had initially returned the decision to each school. Because in Bali, educational institutions are dominated by non-Muslim students, so during the fasting month, MBG is still distributed during breaks.

However, he ensured that Muslim students who were fasting were still given a nutritious meal package in the form of dry food that could be taken home.

"If there are students who are Muslim, their school is in a Hindu majority school, they get dry menu to take home to eat during Iftar or whatever," he said.

Risca ensured that this direction was known to all Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) in Bali, where they would record the number of students who received wet menus and Muslim students who received dry menus for one month.

There is nothing different other than the difference in the MBG menu, because the budget is still the same, namely Rp. 8,000 per portion for toddlers-students in grade 4 elementary school and Rp. 10,000 per portion for grade 4 elementary school to high school.

"Yes, this has been directed to SPPG throughout Bali because we also have a circular letter related to this Ramadan, and for the budget it is still the same," he said.

For the MBG menu during the fasting month for non-Muslim students is still the same as on weekdays, while for fasting students will get menus such as abon, eggs, fruit, dates, and bread which are rearranged every day according to the adequacy of nutrition.

BGN Bali is aware that the conditions in Bali are different from other schools outside the island, because schools outside Bali tend to run long holidays during the fasting month.

When students are on vacation, the school through teachers will collect students to distribute wet food packages for breaking the fast or dry food for several days.

According to Risca, this holiday moment also occurred in Bali but not for long. BGN Bali noted that the student holiday will last this week until Saturday, February 21, 2026 to welcome the start of Ramadan.

However, during this period for Bali MBG students are abolished, instead BGN focuses on distribution to 3B, namely pregnant women (bumil), breastfeeding mothers (busui), and children under five years of age (toddlers).

Risca hopes that during the fasting month the MBG program will continue to run smoothly with the assistance of 178 SPPG with 147 SPPG already actively serving 507 thousand beneficiaries.

"Hopefully it will continue to run smoothly and according to its purpose, so even though we provide a dry menu, it is hoped that the adequacy of nutrition in children or students in the month of Ramadan will still be met," he said.