Indonesia
Society
The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has shut nearly 900 kitchens for the free nutritious meals program and dismissed hundreds of employees in its first sweeping governance overhaul under newly appointed agency head Sudaryono, amid declining public confidence in the program.
Staff prepare lunch plates on the first day of the free nutritious meal program at a kitchen in Bogor, West Java, on Jan. 6, 2025. (AFP/Aditya Aji)
The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has shut nearly 900 kitchens for the free nutritious meal program and dismissed hundreds of employees in its first sweeping governance overhaul under newly appointed agency head Sudaryono, amid declining public confidence in the program.Sudaryono, a politician from President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party, cited violations ranging from poor hygiene and failure to comply with operational standards to inadequate wastewater treatment facilities as reasons behind the “permanent” closure of the total of 883 kitchens, out of more than 28,000 nationwide.
