Commission IX Of The House Of Representatives Gives Notes On The Budget Proposal Of IDR 335 Trillion For The MBG Program

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The proposed additional budget of IDR 118 trillion proposed by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) for the implementation of the Free Nutrition Food Program (MBG) in 2026 has drawn various responses from members of Commission IX of the DPR RI.

According to a member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives from the Nasdem Party faction, Irma Suryani Chaniago, MBG is President Prabowo Subianto's big program which aims to increase the intelligence of Indonesia's young generation. He considered that the implementation of this program was not easy, but that it was not impossible.

"This free lunch program is indeed a big presidential program to increase the brain growth of Indonesian children. It is not easy to manage this program, but that does not mean it cannot be implemented," said Irma to VOI, Tuesday, July 15.

Irma emphasized that there are four crucial aspects that must be maintained so that this program runs successfully with such a large budget, namely professional human resources (HR), both from the manager of the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) and internal BGN.

Commitment and honesty are needed so that fraud does not occur that damage the quality of the menu. Then, it is necessary to maintain good cleanliness and kitchen standards. Ensuring the variety and hygiene of the menu.

"If these four points are in accordance with the SOP, then God willing, the target desired by the president can be achieved," he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Yahya Zaini, gave a critical opinion on the proposed additional BGN budget. He warned that the MBG program could be a big waste if it only focused on distributing food without touching the root of the problem of the nutritional crisis.

"This program will be the biggest waste if it is only focused on food procurement without touching the root of problems such as low nutritional education, weak access to healthy foods, and lack of nutrition literacy in schools," he said.

Yahya said the DPR would discuss the budget request in depth. "Of course we will discuss it first, we will undergo in-depth surgery before making a decision," he said.

It is known that the Head of BGN Dadan Hindayana proposed an additional budget of Rp118 trillion, apart from the indicative ceiling set by the Ministry of Finance and Bappenas of Rp217 trillion for 2026.

The total budget requirement for the MBG program next year will also be IDR 335 trillion to serve 82.9 million beneficiaries.