Jakarta. The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) recently highlighted the importance of transparency as Indonesia deployed more meals to students across the archipelago.

BGN had joined forces with the Central Information Commission (KIP) at a seminar on transparency in Jakarta on Thursday. BGN is in charge of the nationwide distribution of government-aided meals. BGN head Dadan Hindayana said that openness had been key in the free meal rollout. 

"Public information disclosure is not simply a legal obligation or bureaucratic procedure. It is the foundation of trust. Without transparency, sound policies can be misunderstood. Without transparency, strategic state programs are vulnerable to doubt," Dadan said.

He also went on to say that public information agencies are the architect of public trust, playing a central role in ensuring accurate, consistent, and accountable information.

"A strong government is not one that withholds information, but rather one that is willing to be open and ready to be oversighted by the public," he said.

According to Dadan, the success of the free meal program is not measured solely by statistics, but by the extent to which public trust grows through government accountability.

BGN's spokesperson Khairul Hidayati said that the agency had taken some measures to boost transpaency. It has issued a regulation on public information service standards. The agency has also launched the SAGI call center to manage complaints related to the free meal program.

"We manage public information openly, so the public can be confident that national nutrition services are running cleanly, honestly, and meaningfully," Hida said.