Indonesia's free meals marred by missed payments and poisoning

Prabowo shoots for 83 million recipients with $10bn budget by end of 2025

20250430 freelunch in Indonesia

A free lunch at an elementary school in Tangerang, Indonesia. President Prabowo Subianto is pushing through with his ambitious free meal plan despite public outcries over budget cuts to other government programs. © Reuters

ISMI DAMAYANTI

JAKARTA -- Nearly four months after Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto launched his ambitious free meals for children program, missed payments to vendors, a lawsuit and incidents of food poisoning are tarnishing this flagship policy.

Officially rolled out in early January, the program had reached 3.26 million recipients as of Tuesday, including children from infants to high-schoolers, as well as pregnant women -- with 2.3 trillion rupiah ($138.6 million) disbursed.

Sponsored Content

About Sponsored ContentThis content was commissioned by Nikkei's Global Business Bureau.