BGN head explains Rp6 million daily incentive for MBG Kitchens

Jakarta, Thekabarnews.com—The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) head Dadan Hindayana explained why the government provides a Rp6 million daily incentive to operators of Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG). These units run kitchens for the free meals program (MBG).

The strategy caused a lot of talk on social media recently. Some people asked how big the daily incentive was. Dadan said that giving money to the SPPG is still a lot better than making the government develop every infrastructure from start.

“The cost is far more efficient than BGN building all the facilities and infrastructure on its own,” Dadan said on Wednesday, February 18, as quoted by Kompas.

He said that the incentive is also a way for the state to show its appreciation for groups that have sped up the building of functioning kitchens. Furthermore, the government can speed up implementation by working with existing foundations. This approach will not slow down the building of new infrastructure.

“The basic incentive is a way for the state to thank everyone who has helped speed up the building of SPPG facilities,” Dadan said.

Dadan stressed that speed is essential for the MBG program to work. The government can get healthy meals to the right people faster because they have kitchens that are ready to use.

He said that time is still an important part of making policies work. 

“We can repeat many things in life if given the chance, but we cannot repeat time. Time only goes one way. Once lost, it cannot be found again,” he added.

Dadan said that speeding up the readiness of infrastructure has long-term benefits that are greater than the short-term expenses from a policy perspective. In addition, the program’s main goal is to help children and communities get nutritional support faster. This is what a faster rollout entails.

The goal of the MBG program is to raise the standards of public nutrition and help people develop their skills all around the country. The government wants to make sure that services are always available by encouraging facilities to be ready early. It also aims to make the best use of their budgets.

Officials say that the incentive scheme strikes a compromise between economic discipline and the need to meet national nutrition goals quickly. This comes as public scrutiny grows.