Govt halts free meals drive during holidays

Cost concerns: Students protesting against a rise in non-subsidised fuel prices and the government’s free school meals programme in Surabaya. — AFP

The country will suspend its free meal scheme during holiday periods, after mass protests in the capital condemned wasteful spending and demanded that the government address worsening economic conditions.

The multi-billion-dollar feeding programme is one of President Prabowo Subianto’s signature policies, but has been widely criticised for its high costs, with hundreds demonstrating in Jakarta last week to call for it to be scrapped.