JAKARTA: A recent survey has found that 72 per cent of Indonesians are satisfied with the government’s free nutritious meal programme, despite persistent concerns over food safety and its potential impact on education funding.
The survey, conducted by pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia between Jan 15 and 21, involved 1,220 respondents selected through multistage random sampling.
The nationwide poll carries a margin of error of around 2.9 per cent and a 95 per cent confidence level. Indikator Politik Indonesia’s founder, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, said satisfaction with the programme was highest among Generation Z respondents.
“According to the survey, 80.7 per cent of Gen Z respondents said they were satisfied with the free meal programme,” Burhanuddin said on Monday as quoted by Tempo.co.
Burhanuddin also noted that respondents living in urban areas tended to be less satisfied with the free meal programme than those in rural areas.
Jakarta recorded the lowest level of satisfaction, at 52 per cent. Burhanuddin added that public satisfaction largely depends on the National Nutrition Agency’s (BGN) ability to maintain food quality, as the agency is responsible for implementing the programme.
“Issues such as food quality and reported cases of food poisoning have a significant influence on satisfaction with the free meal programme,” he said.
Responding to the survey, BGN head Dadan Hindayana said the agency would work to improve public satisfaction with the free meal programme.
“All public feedback is taken into account as part of our continuous improvement efforts,” he said on Monday.
President Prabowo Subianto launched the free meals programme on Jan 6, 2025, as one of his flagship initiatives aimed at addressing the country’s chronic stunting problem.
Since its launch, however, the free meals programme has been plagued by a series of food safety incidents, with more than 12,600 students reported to have suffered food poisoning last year, according to the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI).
Amid mounting public pressure to suspend the program, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) tightened food safety protocols in October 2025 in a bid to eliminate food poisoning incidents this year.
Despite the agency’s zero-incident target, more than 2,000 students have been affected by food poisoning cases linked to the free meal program so far this year.
The latest incident occurred on Feb 4 in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan, where more than 400 students were affected.
Students reported symptoms including diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting several hours after consuming a meal consisting of rice, curried egg, tofu fritters, stir-fried bok choy and carrots and pudding.
Initial investigations pointed to the tofu fritters, which were prepared a day earlier and were believed to have spoiled.
The mass food-poisoning incident overwhelmed healthcare facilities in the regency, forcing many students to receive treatment in hospital corridors and temporary tents due to a shortage of beds. Beyond food safety concerns, critics have also raised alarms over the free meal program’s impact on the education budget.
Of the Rp3.8 quadrillion (US$226 billion) projected spending in this year’s state budget, education accounts for 20 per cent, or Rp 769 trillion.
Around Rp 223 trillion of that allocation is earmarked for the free meal programme. The programme is set to receive Rp 335 trillion from the 2026 budget, with the remainder of its funding drawn from health and economic spending.
This marks a sharp increase from the Rp 71 trillion allocated in 2025.
On Jan 26, plaintiffs comprising an education foundation, three law students from Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta, and a contract teacher filed a judicial review petition with the Constitutional Court, seeking to exclude the free meal programme from the education budget.
The plaintiffs argue that including the programme in the education allocation has reduced effective education spending to Rp 536 trillion, or just 14 per cent of total state expenditure, triggering austerity measures that have affected teachers’ welfare.
Among those most impacted are contract teachers, many of whom continue to earn as little as Rp300,000 per month. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
