Parents File Police Complaint Over Indonesia Free Meals Program

According to Nikkei Asia, 60 parents of children who fell ill after eating free meals funded by the Indonesian government have filed a police complaint, marking the first legal challenge to President Prabowo Subianto's flagship program. The complaint, filed on Aug. 31 and shared with the media on Thursday, targets Indonesia's National Nutrition Agency, the kitchen that prepared the meals and the schools that distributed them. It seeks an investigation into alleged negligence, the naming of suspects, criminal charges and financial compensation. At least 300 students at several high schools in Karo, North Sumatra, became sick in mid-August after consuming the meals, and some were hospitalized, according to the parents' lawyer. The case comes amid more than 50,000 reported food-poisoning cases tied to the program and growing doubts about its financial and logistical viability. The initiative is designed to feed 83 million schoolchildren and pregnant mothers across Indonesia and has a most recent budget of 229 trillion rupiah ($13 billion).