Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka called on his supporters from the Indonesia Raya Alliance to actively monitor the implementation of key government initiatives, including the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program.
During a dialogue with the alliance in South Jakarta on Saturday, he noted that President Prabowo Subianto had also launched the Free Health Screening program, the Sekolah Rakyat (People’s Schools) tuition-free education program, and the university admission-oriented Garuda School program.
“The government is also pursuing food self-sufficiency and implementing many other programs,” Gibran told his supporters.
The Vice President stressed the importance of public oversight to ensure that these programs run properly, stay within legal corridors, and deliver tangible benefits to the people.
He added that active monitoring by citizens would encourage government officials to carry out strategic programs to the best of their ability.
Gibran also assured the public that the government would take immediate action in the event of errors or shortcomings in program implementation.
“It is safe to say that we can still find shortcomings in our programs, which require evaluation,” he said.
Bearing that in mind, he appealed to his supporters to help the government keep its programs on track.
“We all share the responsibility to oversee and evaluate government programs by providing input. This way, we can expect to see the programs run better,” he said.
Since assuming office in October last year, President Prabowo and Vice President Gibran have rolled out a wide range of people-oriented initiatives aimed at advancing the nation.
Through the MBG program, the government aims to improve nutritional intake to enhance the quality of Indonesia’s human resources. Since its launch in January, the program has served more than 34 million citizens nationwide through nearly 12 thousand kitchens.
Furthermore, nearly 42 million of 45 million registered citizens have received health check-ups under the Free Health Screening program, a quick-win initiative launched in February to promote preventive healthcare and increase public awareness of health risks.
Dedicated to children from underprivileged families, the Sekolah Rakyat program has led to the establishment of more than 150 boarding schools offering formal, character, and religious education for elementary, junior high, and senior high school students.
President Prabowo has set a target to open at least 500 Sekolah Rakyat sites nationwide by 2029.
Regarding the Garuda School program, the government envisions it as a strategic means to increase the number of children pursuing studies at top national and international universities.
The program was officially launched on October 8 in 16 locations nationwide, with 12 existing high-performing schools designated as pioneers and four new schools to be established, all mandated to focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
As for the food self-sufficiency effort, the government has implemented various measures and policies, including reducing imports of key food commodities, expanding agricultural land, modernizing irrigation systems, and supporting farmers to boost domestic production.
