Jakarta. The government must make sure that the vendors in charge of making the meals for Indonesia’s historic school feeding program get paid for their services, according to an expert.

Today marks a big day for Indonesia. Students across the archipelago have just returned from their weeks-long, year-end holiday. But unlike any other school day, some of these kids have nutrient-dense lunch plates waiting for them to eat at school. These meals are part of President Prabowo Subianto’s campaign promise of wanting to feed Indonesian students -- starting from those in kindergartens to high schools -- meals abundant in nutrition. Prabowo also vowed to distribute nutrition assistance to expectant mothers to bring down the national stunting rate.

Indonesia officially launched the program on Monday, although they would start with a select group of schools first. On the first day, the government set up 190 kitchens in 26 provinces to cook the meals. About 140 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) help supply the food. But as this ambitious program kicked off, there are many things that the Prabowo administration needs to pay attention to, according to Abra El-Talattov, a researcher at the think-tank INDEF. While the lunch may be free for the students, it is not for these vendors. The Prabowo administration must make sure that the program is free from payment troubles.

“The program’s success really depends on the MSMEs, who are helping with the operations. A challenge that the government really needs to watch out for is how the payment mechanism works. How will they pay these vendors?” Abra said in a talk show broadcasted by the television network BTV on Monday morning.

Abra added: “We all know how the government has allocated Rp 71 trillion [$4.4 billion] for the free meal program in 2025 alone. So the money is there, but we need to keep an eye [on the payment process]. Make sure that there are no payment problems because they really can disrupt the operations."

There is still a possibility for the government to add more funding to the existing Rp 71 trillion annual budget.

"If our fiscal condition improves this year, there is still room for the government to raise the free meal budget,” Abra said.

Prior to its launch, the government said that they had set a per-meal budget of Rp 10,000, citing that the amount is enough to prepare a nutrient-rich plate. However, the kitchen unit in East Jakarta’s Pulo Gebang revealed they had a Rp 15,000 budget per portion. The menu consists of rice, dory fish, an egg dish mixed with carrots, stir-fried bean sprouts, and fresh fruit. The program aims to reach 15 million individuals in the first year.