Jakarta. Indonesia’s flagship Free Nutritious Meal program (MBG), one of President Prabowo Subianto’s key welfare initiatives, remains highly popular among citizens despite recent food poisoning incidents affecting schoolchildren, a new survey shows.

According to Poltracking Indonesia, 22.7 percent of respondents rated the MBG program as the most beneficial among all of Prabowo’s government initiatives, outpacing wage subsidies (13.6 percent), the National Health Card (11.3 percent), and the Smart Indonesia Card (9.7 percent). The wage subsidy program (BSU) provides cash assistance to low-income workers to help sustain their purchasing power during economic downturns. The Health Indonesia Card (KIS) ensures free or subsidized healthcare access for underprivileged citizens through the national insurance system. Meanwhile, the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) supports students from poor families by covering school fees and other education-related expenses, helping reduce inequality in access to education.

“With all the current challenges, the free meal program continues to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from the public,” said Masduri Amrawi, Poltracking’s lead researcher, at the B-Universe office in Tangerang on Monday. “The government’s task now is to improve implementation so that these benefits are delivered safely and efficiently.”

The MBG program, launched earlier this year, aims to provide daily nutritious meals to schoolchildren across Indonesia. The government allocated Rp 71 trillion (around $4.3 billion) for the initiative in 2025 alone. However, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) admitted that its target of reaching 82.9 million beneficiaries by the end of this year might be delayed until February 2026.

“As of October, we’ve reached 36.7 million beneficiaries across 38 provinces,” said BGN head Dadan Hindayana at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. “We remain optimistic about meeting the target, although disruptions, both logistical and external, have affected our rollout.”

The MBG program has not been without controversy. Thousands of children reportedly suffered food poisoning in multiple provinces. Still, President Prabowo defended the program, citing its overall success rate.

“Statistically, only about 0.0007 or 0.0008 percent of all 1.4 billion meals led to poisoning cases,” Prabowo said recently. “That means a 99.99 percent success rate. How can anyone call something 99.99 percent successful a failure? But of course, we don’t want a single child to get sick.”

Poltracking says the MBG’s sustained popularity stems from its tangible, direct benefits to millions of families, unlike larger infrastructure projects that the public has yet to feel. Poltracking’s data showed that initiatives like the new capital city Nusantara (IKN) project received just 0.1 percent of support, while other major programs, such as the Garuda Excellence Schools and market revitalization efforts, scored zero percent.

Poltracking’s nationwide survey was conducted from October 3–10, 2025, involving 1,220 respondents with a margin of error of ±2.9 percent and a 95 percent confidence level.

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