JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com—The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is restructuring the Free Meals (MBG) program through tighter beneficiary verification, digital kitchen monitoring and a planned procurement marketplace connecting meal providers directly with food producers.

BGN head Sudaryono presented the reforms under the banner of “MBG 2.0” during a review of his first 100 days in office in Jakarta on Thursday, Oct. 29. He said the agency wanted to build a program that could continue operating consistently after future leadership changes.

BGN must develop “trust in the system, not trust in a person,” Sudaryono said in response to questions about the program’s long-term sustainability. He argued that a nationwide food program serving tens of millions of people could not depend on the discretion of individual officials.

The agency said it had verified well over 58 million beneficiaries and 26,723 nutrition service kitchens (SPPGs). BGN also reported well over 1 million active workers and 80,315 local suppliers, according to its official 100-day review.

Under MBG 2.0, BGN plans to integrate kitchen operating procedures, financial reports and meal-distribution records into a centralized digital system. The agency also intends to use connected surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence to identify possible violations.

However, BGN has not publicly disclosed how many kitchens currently have compatible cameras or when nationwide monitoring will become operational. The technology will also require clear rules governing data retention, access and the privacy of workers and beneficiaries.

BGN said its beneficiary groups would continue to include schoolchildren from early childhood education through senior high school. Women in pregnancy, breastfeeding mothers and toddlers will also remain eligible.

The agency is prioritizing disadvantaged, frontier and outermost regions, commonly classified as 3T areas. It also plans to direct additional resources toward districts with high stunting prevalence.

BGN has removed 1,653 schools from its list of MBG recipients following a review of institutions considered financially capable of providing their own meals.

The schools include international institutions and some nationally rated boarding schools. BGN also used schools’ refusal of School Operational Assistance (BOS) as one indicator of financial capacity, Sudaryono told a House hearing in September.

Sudaryono rejected social media claims that schools would lose BOS funding if they refused MBG. He said the two programs followed separate policies.

The revised targeting aims to redirect limited capacity toward underserved areas.

BGN data from September showed that the program had reached 56.99 million people. The agency targeted 74.56 million beneficiaries. More than 17 million prospective recipients remained unserved at that time.

BGN is also preparing Loka MBG, an online marketplace designed to connect SPPGs with farmer and livestock-breeder cooperatives. The agency plans to develop the platform using the framework of the Education Ministry’s School Procurement Information System (SIPLah).

“We want to build an MBG marketplace, and we call it Loka MBG,” Sudaryono said.

He said associations and cooperatives would sell food directly through the platform at government reference prices. BGN expects the system to record transactions, identify product origins and reduce opportunities for excessive markups.

The initial procurement list will cover staple commodities such as rice, cooking oil, meat, eggs, fish and milk. BGN plans a soft launch in November and broader implementation in December.

BGN expects Loka MBG to provide farmers with more predictable demand and kitchens to buy supplies at transparent prices. It relies on the correct reference prices and the reliability of logistics. The agency should also make sure that the rules of participation do not exclude qualified small producers who are not yet members of cooperatives.

The reforms could enhance accountability throughout the MBG program. BGN must now prove its digital systems can ensure food safety, deter the misuse of public funds and deliver meals more consistently to the communities most in need of nutrition.