National Nutrition Agency head Sudaryono stressed that the Free Nutritious Meals program does not exhaust the state budget or stop other government programs.
Sudaryono made the statement during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday. He said he felt irritated seeing social media comments claiming the MBG program exhausts the state budget and causes other programs such as fertilizer supply and irrigation repairs to stall.
According to Sudaryono, various development programs continue to run simultaneously. He noted that the government still meets fertilizer needs at discounted prices and carries out irrigation network revitalization even after allocating funds for MBG.
Sudaryono added that school repairs and improvements in honorary teacher welfare are also being carried out gradually. He said this year's MBG budget is around Rp268 trillion yet other programs remain implemented.
