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February 17, 2025 | 06:44 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, claimed there are 638 public kitchens, also known as the Nutritious Fulfillment Service Units, currently operating across Indonesia, a number that continues to rise since the launch of the Free Nutritious Meal program on January 6, 2025.
"The recipients of free meals have surpassed 150,000,” he said on Monday, February 17, 2025.
Dadan said the number of public kitchens during the 13-month trial period reached 245 posts. “Today, the number rises by 393,” he said, referring to the number of public kitchens, which the agency aimed to increase by 5,000 this year alone, targeting around 15 to 17.5 million recipients of the free nutritious meals.
According to Dadan, the additional public kitchens are intended to support President Prabowo’s goal to accelerate the program.
On the other hand, BGN is facing a budget cut worth Rp200.2 billion, but Dadan assured it will not affect the implementation of the free nutritious meal program.
Dadan explained that the budget cut is related only to land procurement. BGN, said Dadan, will address the matter by borrowing land from various government institutions.
"We will borrow land from local governments, ministries, TNI, Polri, SOEs, and other agencies,” he said when confirmed on Thursday, February 13, 2025, as quoted from Antara.
Dadan said land procurement is crucial for the free nutritious meal program, as public kitchens are used for three important activities: cooking, meetings between producers and pharmacists, and nutritional consultation.
The BGN head also mentioned that the program’s budget increase will be speedrun in 2025, considering the increased target by President Prabowo.
"Since we are requested to cover 82.9 million recipients from the initial 15 to 17.5 million, [the budget] will automatically increase. The success of a program hinges on three things: first, the budget; second, the human resources; and third, the infrastructures,” he concluded.
Dian Rahma Fika contributed to the writing of this article.
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