Free Nutritious Meals in The Perspective of Public Policy Implementation

Abstract

The Free Nutritious Meal Program is one of the Indonesian government’s strategic policies aimed at improving public health quality and learning capacity, particularly among students and vulnerable groups. This program has attracted considerable attention due to issues related to budget readiness, logistical distribution, and the government’s capacity to ensure accurate targeting. From the perspective of public policy implementation, the Free Nutritious Meal Program faces complex challenges, including inter-agency coordination, local government readiness, and disparities in infrastructure capacity across regions. This study aims to analyze the Free Nutritious Meal Program from the perspective of public policy implementation. The research employs a qualitative method through a literature review of books, academic journals, regulations, and official reports. Data analysis was conducted through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. Data validity was strengthened through source triangulation. The findings indicate that the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal policy still encounters several obstacles, namely: (1) suboptimal coordination among stakeholders; (2) limited resources, particularly budget, implementing personnel, and distribution facilities; (3) disparities in local government capacity leading to unequal service quality; and (4) weak supervision mechanisms that potentially result in inefficiencies and deviations. Therefore, continuous evaluation is required to strengthen governance, improve distribution systems, and enhance monitoring and evaluation to ensure effective and sustainable program implementation.