Two Years of President Prabowo: Making Progress Felt in People’s Lives

The most meaningful “before and after” of any government is found in the daily lives of its people. Can a mother obtain medical treatment without losing a day’s income? Can a farmer earn a decent living from the next harvest? Can a child attend a safe school and arrive ready to learn? As we reflect on the first two years of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, these questions should guide how we assess progress and determine what must happen next.

The government’s two-year presentation recalls the President’s instruction at his first plenary cabinet meeting: “Jangan ada proyek mercusuar.” I interpret this as a clear demand for development with practical purpose. Public spending must solve real problems, reach communities, and deliver lasting benefits. The next stage of implementation should make that principle measurable by showing whose lives have improved, how they have improved, and at what cost.

The presentation reports substantial activity, including 87,911 school renovations across 2025 and 2026, 440,000 home improvements over the same period, and 5,000 village bridges in 2026 connecting 12,527 villages. It also reports 313 operational public service malls and daily Free Nutritious Meals coverage reaching 60 million pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, young children, and schoolchildren. These figures indicate the scale of the undertaking. The next task is to establish how consistently that scale translates into better living conditions.

This requires a stronger connection between physical infrastructure and the services that follow. A renovated school needs capable teachers, functioning sanitation, appropriate learning materials, and a maintenance budget. A hospital needs medical professionals, medicines, reliable equipment, and an effective referral system. A bridge needs safe access roads and connections to markets, schools, and health facilities. Every completed asset creates an ongoing responsibility to the people who depend on it.

The Free Nutritious Meals programme illustrates how one intervention can generate several public benefits when implementation is well designed. Its immediate purpose is to improve nutrition, while its purchasing power can also support local farmers, fishers, food processors, and small businesses. Achieving these benefits requires transparent supplier selection, dependable payments, rigorous food safety, and menus suited to nutritional needs. We should measure meal quality and consistency, recipients’ experiences, and the share of spending that strengthens local livelihoods. Health and educational outcomes should be evaluated carefully over time.

The same discipline should guide village cooperatives and fishing communities. The presentation reports 10,000 operational village and urban ward cooperatives and 100 operational Kampung Nelayan Merah Putih. Their long-term value will depend on commercial viability and accountable management. Fishers need access to ice, cold storage, logistics, finance, and buyers offering fair terms. Cooperatives need professional bookkeeping, member oversight, and businesses supported by actual demand. The objective should be to make these institutions dependable economic partners for their communities.

From my perspective in business and digital transformation, the private sector has a practical responsibility in this effort. Through KADIN and its networks, we can connect local producers with buyers, develop suppliers, organise apprenticeships, and strengthen small enterprises. Partnerships should specify purchasing commitments, payment terms, skills transfer, and opportunities for local participation. An agreement becomes meaningful when a small supplier receives repeat orders, a young person gains a marketable skill, or a local enterprise increases its income.

Digital government can make these benefits easier to access. Citizens seeking assistance should encounter coherent services, clear requirements, predictable processing times, and a straightforward way to resolve errors. The expansion of public service malls provides a foundation. The next step is to connect the institutions behind those service counters so that information already lawfully held by the government can be reused appropriately, with safeguards for privacy, security, and accountability.

This is why the One Data and digital government agendas matter directly to public welfare. Better data can help identify eligible households, reduce unnecessary paperwork, and reveal gaps in service delivery. But digital access must remain inclusive. People without smartphones, reliable connectivity, or digital confidence need assisted channels. Families incorrectly excluded from assistance must have a straightforward way to correct their records and appeal decisions. Technology earns public trust when it makes government easier to deal with.

Investment should also be measured by the quality of opportunities it creates. Alongside investment value and employment totals, we should examine wages, job stability, worker protection, skills development, and participation by domestic suppliers. Investment delivers greater public benefit when it enables Indonesian enterprises and workers to move into more productive activities. Business must play an active role in developing that capacity.

For the coming year, I would encourage a focused delivery agenda: select a limited number of outcomes that citizens can recognise, establish credible baselines, assign clear responsibilities, and publish progress regularly. Priorities could include shorter treatment delays, faster resolution of benefit applications, improved school attendance, more reliable payments to small suppliers, and lower costs of accessing essential services. Independent evaluation and community feedback should help identify where progress is real and where implementation needs adjustment.

Maintenance and operating costs deserve equal attention. Every new facility should have a plan for staffing, upkeep, and service continuity. Local governments need the capacity and resources to sustain what has been built. Public reporting should distinguish completed projects, operational services, and future targets so that citizens can see clearly what is available today.

The strongest contribution we can make to President Prabowo’s development agenda is to help make delivery more effective, accountable, and responsive. Government, business, and communities each have responsibilities that announcements alone cannot fulfil. Two years provide an opportunity to recognise the effort made and sharpen implementation. The next “before and after” should be visible in healthier children, more secure livelihoods, and public services that treat every Indonesian’s time and dignity as valuable.