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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSome 365 people have fallen ill in an Indonesian town after eating school lunches, the largest spate of food poisonings to hit President Prabowo Subianto’s free meals programme so far. <\/p>\n The meals have temporarily been suspended in Sragen, in central Java, as food samples are being tested for contamination, local authorities said.<\/p>\n The program – which costs an estimated $28bn (\u00a321bn) – delivers on a campaign promise by the president to combat stunting in the country. <\/p>\n But it has been plagued by a string of food poisonings, as well as criticisms that its high price tag has put considerable strain on the government’s finances – with several ministries having their budgets cut as a result.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu, a ninth-grader in Sragen, told Reuters he was awakened in the middle of the night by a sharp pain in his stomach.<\/p>\n He suffered from diarrhoea and a headache, which he suspected was caused by food poisoning. He later saw schoolmates complaining of similar symptoms in their social media posts.<\/p>\n The alleged culprit was a meal comprising turmeric rice, scrambled eggs, fried tempeh, a cucumber salad and a box of milk – all prepared in a central kitchen and distributed to several schools in town.<\/p>\n The government has said it would cover any medical expenses incurred as a result. <\/p>\n “We cannot draw any specific conclusions right away,” Sigit Pamungkas, leader of the town’s government, had told Indonesia’s Tempo newspaper.<\/p>\n “But the main point is that it’s not just [happening here],” he said, adding that the free meals programme as a whole “needs to be more stringent and more hygienic”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n More than 1000 people across the country have fallen ill since the launch of the ambitious program in January, which is aimed at feeding the country’s 80 million school children. <\/p>\n Prabowo had ordered $19bn in cuts to pay for the free meal scheme – along with other populist schemes. As a result, several ministries had their budgets slashed by half and bucreaucrats alleged that they were forced to scrimp by limiting the use of air conditioners, lifts and even printers. <\/p>\n Thousands took to the streets as a result, with one protest sign reading: “Children eat for free, parents are laid off”. <\/p>\n But on Friday, Prabowo defended the programme in his first State of the National Address, saying that it along with other social initiatives will help transform Indonesia into a country that is “free from poverty, free from hunger, free from suffering”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n