Jakarta, March 27 -- Food under the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program will be distributed only during in-person school hours and not on days off, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Dadan Hindayana has affirmed.

He made the statement in response to a discourse on reducing MBG distribution for schoolchildren from six to five days a week, a move projected to save up to Rp40 trillion (more than US$2.3 billion) of the state budget annually.

"MBG will only be distributed to schoolchildren when they are on campus. Those with a five-day schedule will receive free meals five times, while those attending six days will be supplied six times," Hindayana said in a short message received in Jakarta on Friday.

The BGN chief added that data...