Post by : Rameen Ariff

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — Authorities are investigating a widespread food-borne illness that affected roughly 660 children in Yogyakarta province, officials said on Thursday. The cases appear connected to meals served through President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free school meal programme, launched in January to supply nutritious lunches to pupils.

Regional head Endah Subekti Kuntariningsih said on Instagram that students at two schools in Gunungkidul district became ill after consuming the subsidised meals. Reported symptoms included nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, and many children required prompt medical attention.

Dadan Hindayana, head of the national nutrition agency (BGN), which runs the free school meal initiative, said nearby kitchens have been temporarily closed while officials carry out a full inquiry. Past incidents have often been linked to improper food storage or late deliveries, raising questions about safety practices across the programme’s network of some 11,000 kitchens.

The programme aims to reach 70 million children by the end of 2025 and forms a central plank of Prabowo’s social welfare agenda. It has, however, missed an original goal of serving 83 million beneficiaries because of logistical hurdles. Civil society groups such as JPPI have urged authorities to pause the scheme until stricter food-safety measures are in place.

President Prabowo has assembled a ministerial team, including the health minister and the BGN chief, to strengthen oversight and ensure meals are safe for students. BGN has also instructed kitchen staff to reduce portion sizes to help maintain freshness and lower the risk of contamination.

The government allocated 171 trillion rupiah (about $10.3 billion) for the programme this year, though only around 99 trillion rupiah is expected to be spent by year-end because of operational limits. Officials stressed that protecting children’s health remains the primary concern even as they seek to preserve the programme’s wide reach.

The episode underscores the challenge of rolling out large-scale welfare programmes while enforcing rigorous food-safety standards to safeguard Indonesia’s youngest citizens.

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