JAKARTA - Economic observer from the Indonesia Strategic and Economic Action Institution (ISEAI), Ronny Sasmita, assessed that the new Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Sudaryono, not only inherited the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Program, but also various governance issues that have been in the public spotlight.
According to him, the change in the organizational structure at BGN, including the change of leadership, shows that the government is aware that the problems faced by the institution are no longer merely technical.
"If an institution experiences repeated problems such as late payments, budget non-synchronization, to criticism of the quality of program implementation, then a reshuffle of the organization is an almost inevitable step," he said in a written statement, Sunday, July 26.
However, the change of leadership will not give significant results if it is not accompanied by a thorough system improvement.
"Restructuring will only be effective if it is followed by improvements to the planning, budgeting, and supervision systems. Without it, leadership changes risk becoming only a short-term solution that does not touch the root of the problem," continued Ronny.
He highlighted the policy of adjusting the budget of the MBG Program from around Rp. 268 trillion to Rp. 229 trillion. According to him, the government can indeed call this step as part of fiscal efficiency. However, budget cuts must be carried out carefully considering that MBG is a program that is very dependent on the quality of distribution, logistics, and fulfillment of nutritional standards.
"The most real risk is a decrease in portion quality, a reduction in nutritional variation, or pressure on vendors and service providers in the field. So, this is not just about saving or not, but how efficiency is translated without sacrificing the main outcome, namely nutritional quality," said Ronny.
He emphasized that healthy efficiency should target budget leaks, unproductive bureaucratic costs, and operational inefficiencies, not cut key components such as food or distribution.
In addition, the government needs to consider redesigning the MBG Program to be more targeted.
The MBG program is said to be more effective if it is focused on addressing stunting and people in lagging, leading, and outermost (3T) regions.
"In our calculations, if we only focus on stunting and 3T areas, the MBG budget will only range from no more than Rp. 100 trillion," he added.
Ronny stated that the tightening of the budget could be understood as part of efforts to maintain the fiscal health of the country.
However, its success depends heavily on the government's ability to improve the design of the program and the governance of its implementation.
"If the focus is clarified, the targeting is improved, and the implementation is narrowed to the areas that need it most, then this can be the right step to increase efficiency while maintaining the impact," he said.
On the other hand, without governance reform, budget cuts will only reduce the scale of the program without improving its implementation quality.
"The biggest challenge of the BGN is not only the amount of the budget, but the credibility in managing the budget in an accountable, targeted, and results-oriented manner," he said.
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