Jakarta (ANTARA) - Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian emphasized that the successful implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program highly depends on synergy between the central government and regional governments."The coordination of regional governments and the MBG Task Force is essential. With good synergy, various problems in the field, including food poisoning among students, can be reduced and even prevented," he said here on Thursday.
He emphasized that the MBG Task Force forum in each region must be used to seek solutions for various problems found in the program's implementation. He further underscored the importance of regional governments' active role in the program. In this regard, the MBG Task Force serves as a bridge for higher participation of regional governments in the program's supervision.
Karnavian affirmed that his ministry had facilitated the establishment of the MBG Task Force in 141 regions, including in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost regions.
Those regional task forces are collaborating with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to accelerate the establishment of Nutritional Fulfillment Service Units (SPPGs) or MBG kitchens that supply food to the program.
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"With the collaboration between the Ministry of Home Affairs, BGN, and regional governments, the MBG program is expected to be able to protect children's health and build a foundation for Indonesia's golden generation that is healthy, bright, and competitive," he remarked.
The MBG program was launched on January 6, 2025, with the aim of improving the nutritional status of children under five, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and schoolchildren up to the high school level.
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The program is targeted to reach 82.9 million beneficiaries across Indonesia, making it one of the largest programs implemented in the country.
The BGN on Thursday reported that the program has so far reached 29.8 million beneficiaries with a total of 8,018 SPPGs operating.
