Indonesia's National Nutrition Agency chief Dadan Hindayana was sacked on June 2, 2026, by President Prabowo Subianto over governance failures, procurement irregularities, and food quality issues linked to the country's flagship free meals programme [1, 2, 3]. The agency's headquarters in Jakarta was raided and locked down by the Attorney General's Office on June 3 to investigate concerns around governance and food safety [1, 2, 4].
Dadan was arrested the same day along with two deputies. Authorities accuse the former chief of siphoning billions of rupiah and abusing power through corrupt deals tied to the programme, which targets around 80 to 83 million children and pregnant or breastfeeding women nationwide [5, 3, 6, 7, 8]. The charges include inflated procurement of 21,000 electric motorcycles, 32,000 pairs of shoes, and 5,400 televisions, plus appointing affiliated foundations for kitchen services that received daily bribes, Attorney General's Office spokesperson Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi said: "Those foundations received billions of rupiahs in incentives every day, and those foundations were affiliated, owned by the suspects" [8].
The free meals programme, launched in January 2025, aims to combat child malnutrition and stunting with a budget cut to 268 trillion rupiah (approx. US$15 billion) in 2026 from an initial 335 trillion rupiah [9, 1, 2, 10, 4]. It provides free meals to millions but faced serious setbacks after reports in April 2026 of food poisoning affecting more than 33,000 children, raising public and investor concerns [2, 10, 4, 8]. State Secretariat Minister Prasetyo Hadi noted problems with discipline and food quality standards: "There are issues relating to discipline in implementing governance, including discipline in maintaining food quality standards, that should have been established by the National Nutrition Agency" [1].
Dadan Hindayana was replaced on June 5 by deputy Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, a former journalist and close ally of Prabowo, who promised to refocus the programme on improved governance, efficiency, and reaching remote areas [9]. Political analyst Arya Fernandes commented that Dadan's arrest should serve "as a stepping stone to improve the scheme’s governance and management" [3].
President Prabowo affirmed his commitment to continue the free meals programme despite the scandal while vowing to discipline anyone guilty of wrongdoing [1, 2, 3]. The investigation and reforms are ongoing as the government aims to restore public trust in the initiative.
