JAKARTA: The government has decided to scale back President Prabowo Subianto ’s flagship free nutritious meal programme after weeks of nationwide protests demanding a complete suspension.
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa told reporters last Friday that he “did not propose” the cut and that the initiative had come from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) running the programme, whose leadership he had met earlier in the week.
He said he approved the planned cut and that “it would be better if they cut even more”.
“I actually want it to be zero, but that’s not possible, the budget is out already, but stopping it altogether is not right either, because it’s a good programme.
“All that’s left to do is improve the implementation,” Purbaya said.
He declined to say what the exact amount would be cut in the programme, but did add that “the reduction is significant, making our budget more secure”.
He also replied with “maybe” when asked whether the amount was 40 trillion rupiah (US$2.2bil).
The programme that aims to feed 83 million schoolchildren, pregnant mothers and other recipients would cost the state some 335 trillion rupiah a year when run at full scale.
It received an original allocation of 268 trillion rupiah in this year’s budget.
Deputy BGN head Agustina Arumsari said on June 18 that the programme’s budget had been cut twice this year by a total of 39.62 trillion rupiah, bringing the total annual budget to 228 trillion rupiah, according to Detik.com.
However, she said actual spending might be less than the allocation, because the BGN was “refocusing” the beneficiaries to make sure the meals go to “those who actually need them, so the benefits of the programmes can be felt optimally”.
Purbaya refrained from elaborating on what specific items might be scaled back and said he was leaving the detailed announcement to the BGN.
Last Thursday, Reuters reported the government was weighing a U$2bil cut in the programme. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
