Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the government cannot continue funding its multibillion-dollar free meals programme with money allocated for education, dealing another setback to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship campaign pledge.
The free meals programme, launched in 2025, aims to provide nutritious meals to 83 million schoolchildren and expectant mothers as part of efforts to reduce malnutrition and stunting across the country.
However, the scale of the initiative and the logistical challenges of delivering meals across an archipelago of more than 280 million people have made it one of the government’s most expensive programmes, raising concerns about its impact on Indonesia’s fiscal deficit.
Chief Justice Suhartoyo said the court had ruled that funding for the free meals programme must be separated from the education operational budget by 2028 at the latest, while recommending that the separation begin as early as 2027. Indonesia is due to present its 2027 state budget in August.
The ruling followed petitions filed by students and educators challenging the 2026 state budget law, which classified the free meals programme as an educational provision eligible for financing through the education budget.
The Finance Ministry had allocated 769 trillion rupiah (about S$54 billion) to education in the 2026 budget, including 223 trillion rupiah earmarked for the free meals programme.
Government lawyers argued that improving children’s nutrition is an essential part of the education process. However, during court proceedings in June, history teacher Iman Zanatul Haeri testified that the programme had coincided with teacher contract terminations and salary reductions.
In delivering the judgment, the court acknowledged that the free meals initiative is an important measure to combat stunting but said it should receive its own dedicated allocation within the national budget.
“Adding nutritious meals as one of the education provisions creates imbalances in the proportionality of the education budget,” Judge M. Guntur Hamzah said.
The Finance Ministry declined to comment on the ruling.
The decision adds to mounting challenges surrounding the programme. The government has already reduced its 2026 budget twice and indicated that further cuts remain possible.
The agency responsible for administering the initiative has also experienced leadership changes in recent weeks, while its former chief was arrested in June over corruption allegations linked to the programme.
Public support has also weakened. A survey conducted in July by an independent pollster found that only 33.8% of respondents were satisfied with the programme, a decline of about 30 percentage points compared with November last year.
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