Indonesia's $15bn "Free Nutritious Meals" programme — President Prabowo Subianto's signature social initiative, launched in 2025 to combat childhood stunting and food insecurity — has escalated into one of the country's largest corruption scandals in years, after authorities arrested the head of the National Nutrition Agency and two deputies in June over alleged procurement fraud worth $56m. Critics say the programme, which has rolled out nearly 28,000 franchise-style kitchens across the archipelago, is badly misallocated: over 18,000 kitchens are concentrated on Java (Indonesia's wealthiest island), while areas in eastern Papua with the highest stunting rates received only around 270 facilities, and pregnant women and toddlers — the groups most susceptible to stunting — made up just 5 percent of recipients. With more than 33,000 reported food poisoning cases, roughly 7,000 surplus kitchens costing the state an estimated $54m per month in incentive fees, and funding partly diverted from health and education budgets, the government has cut the programme's 2026 budget and announced plans to better target vulnerable communities, though President Prabowo has continued to defend the initiative as essential.