JAKARTA -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has dismissed Dadan Hindayana from his position as head of the National Nutrition Agency, marking a significant leadership change in the administration's flagship free school meals programme.
The multi-billion-dollar initiative, a cornerstone of President Prabowo's 2024 presidential campaign, was designed to provide nutritious daily meals to approximately 80 million school children across the archipelago. However, the programme has faced mounting scrutiny after tens of thousands of students reportedly fell ill following consumption of the provided meals.
According to local education monitoring groups, the free meals programme has been linked to more than 33,000 cases of food poisoning since its rollout. The mounting public health concerns have prompted widespread calls from civil society and opposition figures for the programme to be temporarily suspended pending a comprehensive review.
The leadership change comes shortly after Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) filed a formal complaint citing alleged inconsistencies in the budgeting and procurement processes across regional programme kitchens. In a related development, officials from the Attorney General's Office conducted a raid on the National Nutrition Agency's headquarters earlier this week, temporarily restricting staff access to the building as part of an ongoing investigation.
President Prabowo has publicly acknowledged that the scheme has been beset with many problems, vowing in a recent address to take strict action against any officials found to be violating regulations or abusing their authority.
In place of Dadan Hindayana, the President has appointed Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, his deputy and a former journalist who served on Prabowo's 2024 campaign team. The appointment has drawn mixed reactions from the public. While some citizens support the swift change in leadership, critics have pointed out that the new appointee lacks direct experience in nutrition science or food safety management.
Amid the ongoing investigations, the government has already implemented preliminary cost-cutting measures. The free meals schedule was recently reduced from six days to five days per week, a move authorities stated was necessary to mitigate the financial strain on the national budget amid a weakening currency and declining trade surpluses.
The situation remains under close observation by Indonesian lawmakers, who are expected to review the programme's operational framework and safety protocols in the coming legislative sessions.
