Kudus Regency Allocates IDR 17.3 Million for Free Nutritious Meal Program, But It’s Only Enough for 5 Days

Kudus Braces for Free Nutritious Meals Program Trial Run; TNI Helps Ensure Readiness

The local government of Kudus is not the only entity working tirelessly to support the upcoming Free Nutritious Meals program. The Kodim 0722/Kudus military command is also under pressure to intensify monitoring of the program’s readiness.

Major Infantry Muklisin, the commander of Kodim 0722/Kudus, explained that the military’s role in Kudus is primarily to aid in accelerating the Free Nutritious Meals program. Towards this, they are actively monitoring the preparations for the program’s trial run, scheduled for January 13, 2024.

A total of 3,729 beneficiaries are set to participate in the trial run, consisting of 3,496 students across 10 schools and 233 pregnant and lactating women. The program, to be conducted over seven days, has an estimated daily menu cost of IDR 15,000 per person. The total budget allocated for the trial run amounts to IDR 296,925,000, as per Major Muklisin.

The Free Nutritious Meals program in Kudus has faced a delay in its implementation. Originally planned for simultaneous rollout on January 6, 2025, it will now only commence on January 13, 2024. The Kudus Education, Youth, and Sports Department (Disdikpora) acknowledges this delay, with a lack of prepared supporting infrastructure being a key contributing factor.

Currently, Kudus has only one unit of the Satuan Pelayanan Pemenuhan Gizi (SPPG) or healthy kitchen, located at Ponpes Nashrul Ummah Mejobo. This facility is expected to cater to around 3,400 beneficiaries in several nearby schools.

Despite the delay, preparations and fine-tuning of the program are ongoing. This includes inspecting several re-purposed elementary school buildings to serve as potential Free Nutritious Meals kitchens. Anggun Nugroho, the Head of the Basic Education Division of Disdikpora Kudus, confirmed that they are assessing five potential locations. The final decision, however, rests with the National Nutrition Board (Badan Gizi Nasional).

The Kudus Disdikpora is committed to continuing this search until they have identified locations suitable for all 88 planned SPPG units in the Kudus Regency.

Arief Pramono