Government still undecided on civil servants' wages<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Senior government officials stressed on Tuesday
\nthat no definite decision had been taken on raising civil
\nservants' wages as earlier reported.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Administrative Reform Ryaas Rasyid asserted
\nthat the government had yet to decide on the matter: \"So far, the
\ngovernment has yet to make a decision on whether it will raise
\ncivil servants' wages or not.\"<\/p>\n
Nevertheless he conceded that it was being considered in a bid
\nto reduce corruption in the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
\"Civil servants' wages are very low and they must be raised to
\nmake their wages closer to their daily minimum requirements.
\nCivil servants' purchasing power must be improved to eliminate
\ncorrupt practices in the bureaucracy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But separately on Tuesday head of the National Employee
\nAffairs Agency (BKN) Prijono Tjiptoherdanto gave a more positive
\nresponse that the government was carefully focussing on an
\nequitable system between the top and lower level employees in
\npossible wage hikes for civil servants.<\/p>\n
\"In the previous system, there was a big gap in (salary
\nincrease) percentage between the lower and the upper level, which
\ncould be expressed as a ratio of 1:6. Now with an average 15
\npercent hike, the ratio is around 1:3,\" Prijono told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Prijono also added that the planned hike will be given to all
\ncivil servants by Jan. 1, once President Abdurrahman Wahid signs
\nthe presidential decree on the matter.<\/p>\n
He also said that the average salary hike will be around 15
\npercent, not up to 600 percent as previously reported.<\/p>\n
\"We have a new payroll system in which the basic salary and
\nallowances are being combined. In the previous system, the basic
\nsalary and other allowances were separate.\"<\/p>\n
In the old system, the lowest ranking civil servant (IA)
\nreceives a total of Rp 415,000 take home pay, he explained.<\/p>\n
\"With the new system, he or she will get a total of Rp 500,000
\nper month.\"<\/p>\n
While for the highest ranking civil servant, which is IV E,
\nthe previous basic salary was Rp 500,000 plus additional
\nallowances which totaled Rp 1.2 million per month, Prijono said.<\/p>\n
\"Under the new system, an IVE echelon will get a total of Rp
\n1.5 million. So with this system there will be an equal
\ndistribution among civil servants from the lower to top level,\"
\nPrijono maintained.<\/p>\n
Funds for the planned hike would be taken from the existing
\nstate budget, he said.<\/p>\n
\"With the previous payroll system we spent some Rp 70 trillion
\nfor a total of four million civil servants. With the new system
\nwe only need an additional two trillion or about Rp 72 trillion.\"<\/p>\n
He further said that his office along with related ministries
\nwill also discuss the administrative and salary system for the
\nNational Police since they have already separated from the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI).<\/p>\n
\"Actually the Police should be included as members of the
\ncivil service. But since they have different regulations and
\nranks, there must be special arrangements and regulations.\"<\/p>\n
\"So far the Police's payroll has been handled by the Ministry
\nof Defense,\" Prijono said.<\/p>\n
Prijono also stressed the need to increase wages as part of
\nefforts to combat corruption.<\/p>\n
\"Civil servants deserve better welfare. With the upcoming
\nregional autonomy, only around one million civil servants will
\nstay in Jakarta while the others will be handled by the
\nregions ... so hopefully those in the center can get better
\nsalaries,\" Prijono added. (edt\/rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-still-undecided-on-civil-servants-wages-1447893297",
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