Indonesian President’s signature free-meal scheme well received but faced early snags

JAKARTA – Indonesia’s month-old,

free-meal programme

for students and pregnant women is working through early snags such as slow disbursement of payments and food-poisoning cases, but has been generally well received across the country, officials say.

While observers continue to worry over how to sustainably fund the programme that will cost billions of dollars a year, President Prabowo Subianto’s signature Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) or Free Nutritious Meal scheme has delivered more than 10 million meals to 600,000 students in 26 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces as at Jan 31.