Dadan Hindayana Cs Becomes a Suspect, Purbaya Still Focuses on Efisienkan MBG Budget

Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa (ANTARA/Imamatul Silfia)

JAKARTA - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa admitted that he remained focused on efforts to streamline the budget of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program after the former Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Dadan Hindayana was detained by the Attorney General's Office.

Purbaya said the issue of the leadership of the BGN was the authority of President Prabowo Subianto as the head of state. The decision to remove the post was also said to be the result of the President's evaluation of the performance of the BGN leadership.

"This is the President's decision after evaluating his performance. We don't interfere. What is clear is that the figure is now (about) Rp260 trillion, will it decrease? Because there are cuts in days and all sorts of things," said Purbaya as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, June 3.

The Minister of Finance previously conveyed that the government had reduced the MBG program ceiling in the State Budget (APBN) for the 2026 fiscal year from the original Rp. 335 trillion to Rp. 268 trillion.

The decision was an instruction from President Prabowo Subianto to ensure that MBG program funds could be managed more efficiently.

The realization of the disbursement of the budget until April 30 was recorded at Rp. 75 trillion, which had reached 61.96 million beneficiaries and 27,952 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG).

The Minister of Finance gave a signal that there would be savings in the MBG program budget, although he had not detailed the details of the future plan.

However, Purbaya said, President Prabowo was improving the management of the MBG program and the way BGN spent the budget.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Office has named three former BGN officials as suspects in the alleged corruption case of the MBG program management in 2025-2026.

The three people are former Head of BGN Dadan Hindayana (DH), former Deputy Head of BGN for Organizational Development and Institutional Support Lodewyk Pusung (LP), and former Deputy Head of BGN for Operational Nutrition Fulfillment Sony Sonjaya (SS).

The Attorney General's Office said the three were suspected of marking up the price of the procurement of electric motorcycles to shoes at BGN.