Fraud, alleged illegal levying raise questions about Indonesia’s free meals program’s implementation

January 2, 2025

The free meals program, one of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship campaign platforms, aims to provide food to 82 million children, primary and secondary school students and pregnant women and improve child nutrition.

Bureau of National Nutrition (BGN) chief Dadan Hindayana said the scheme will be available to students across the country as early as January 2 jakarta post Tuesday.

But the free meal program has encountered several obstacles during its trial run, ranging from accusations of illegal taxation and fraud to inconsistent menus.

On December 18, the @ahmad.lehan6 account posted a video clip on TikTok of a parent-teacher conference at an unspecified school, with a caption alleging illegal taxation, which went viral last week.

“Meals are free, but you have to buy two lunch boxes to eat, each box costs IDR 30,000 [US$1.86]so buying two means spending 60,000 dong per child,” the title said.

Nutrition agency spokesman Lalu Muhammad Iwan Mahardan, a police officer with the rank of high commissioner, was quick to deny the allegation and said since the program was a government initiative, it was completely free.

“There is no tax in the scheme, let alone an obligation to buy lunch boxes,” LaRue said last week, quoted speed.

Reports emerged last week that dozens of catering businesses in Kediri, East Java, had fallen victim to a scam that offered them the opportunity to become providers of free meal programs in the area.

The perpetrators allegedly demanded a security deposit of Rp 1 million for every 1,000 meal boxes provided by the catering service, Antara reported. According to reports, the perpetrators are still at large and have defrauded more than Rs 70 million through the scam.

“We deeply regret this incident,” LaRue said in a statement on Saturday. “The Nutritious Meal Scheme is a government initiative to help improve the welfare of the people and is not to be abused by dishonest people. We advise victims to report the matter to the police immediately so that the case can be investigated.”

Not ready yet?

Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the think tank Center for Economic and Legal Studies (CELIOS), attributed problems with the free meal trial to a lack of public participation and transparency in the scheme.

“The fraud scheme that hit the food service was one of the consequences of poor communication about the program. It showed there was already misunderstanding about how or when the program worked.” postal Tuesday.

He said the scheme’s centralized model, which gave the government the power to hire third-party suppliers to deliver meals to schools, had led to unnecessary layers of bureaucracy “which could drain the budget for the meals themselves”.

The president announced deep cuts in each budget in late November, from an initial 15,000 dong (92 cents) to 10,000 dong per budget, citing financial constraints. It is unclear whether the cuts will affect the Rp 71 trillion set aside by the government this year for the implementation of the first phase of the plan.

Bhima also said the duration of the pilot test was too short.

“The plan should be tested for at least two years to identify and address issues that could otherwise be exploited for corruption or budget misuse,” he said.

A CELIOS survey released on Monday showed that 46% of more than 1,800 respondents were concerned about the potential for inefficient distribution of free meals. A further 37% of respondents were concerned about the possibility of corruption, 14% were concerned about a lack of nutritional value on menus and 3% were worried about a lack of funds.

Responding to growing concerns, BGN chief Dadan said on Tuesday that “everything at the nutrition agency is under our control”.

During the trial run, the menu included rice with a variety of vegetables, protein sources, fruit and a glass of mineral water.