300-400 Thousand Elderly and 36 Thousand Disabled Enter MBG Target This Year

Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Saifullah Yusuf. ANTARA/Azhfar Muhammad

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Social Affairs targets 300 thousand-400 thousand elderly groups (elderly) and around 36 thousand disabled people to be beneficiaries of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Program this year.

"Actually this is just an expansion of the target and is carried out through the integration of the MBG program run by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) with social protection services that have been managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs," said Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, February 5.

He explained that nutritious meal services for the elderly had actually been running through the Ministry of Social Programs, but would be coordinated with the MBG scheme so that distribution would be more integrated and reach a wider range of beneficiaries.

The Ministry of Social Affairs confirmed that the data collection of prospective beneficiaries of the elderly and disabled is currently still being carried out together with the local government to ensure the accuracy of the target, including determining the mechanism for distributing food.

The provision of food will be centralized through the kitchen of the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG), then the distribution to the elderly and disabled will involve Social Ministry officers, professional caregivers/nurses, and social volunteers.

For the elderly target, according to Saifullah, the number of beneficiaries will be increased from around 136 thousand people to 300 thousand - 400 thousand people, it is not impossible that those who live in Panti Werdha although the final figure is still waiting for the results of the simulation and data updates.

Meanwhile, for people with disabilities, the MBG program is targeted to reach around 36 thousand beneficiaries with nutritious food twice a day, namely in the morning and afternoon.

"That is us Kemensos and BGN. For pregnant women, the mechanism is sent by Kemendukbangga (Ministry of Population and Family Development/BKKBN)," he said.

Saifullah emphasized that the integration of the MBG program with social protection is expected to strengthen the nutritional fulfillment of vulnerable groups, as well as increase the effectiveness of the distribution of assistance based on accurate and equitable data as a priority program from President Prabowo Subianto.