Activists question necessity of uniforms for civil servants

Activists question necessity of uniforms for civil servants

Whether civil servants should wear a uniform is still a matter of
public debate. The real and immediate consequence of the
requirement, however, is that billions of rupiah in taxpayers'
money must be allocated for their uniforms. The Jakarta Post's
Bambang Nurbianto looks into the matter in the first of four
articles on the issue.

Recent complaints over the poor quality of uniforms for thousands
of civil servants working for the city administration have
prompted activists and sociology experts to question the
mandatory use of uniforms.

Non-governmental organization Indonesian Forum for Budget
Transparency (Fitra) coordinator Arif Nur Alam underlined that
the city administration should shift the uniform procurement fund
to finance more urgent programs, such as the poverty alleviation
scheme.

"What can be expected from the wearing of uniforms? Are their
services any better because they wear uniforms?" he remarked
during an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.

The city administration spent Rp 14.63 million (US$1.63
million) to procure uniforms for 30,000 civil servants last year.
Currently, City Hall employs a total of 91,820 civil servants.

A similar comment was made by the Jakarta Residents' Forum
(Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan who said that the uniform
procurement was a waste of money.

"The only positive function of a uniform is that people can
immediately identify an the official who will provide them with
the service they need. But then again, they can also be
identified by their IDs," he added.

He added that there were still many budget allocations that
can be moved to the poverty alleviation program like the monthly
Rp 15 million housing allowance for each city councillor and
suits for councillors and high-ranking city officials.

Psychosociologist Sartono Mukadis said that the wearing of
uniforms by employees of both private companies and government
institutions had a positive impact.

He touted the benefits of wearing a uniforms but said, "the
uniforms are only a supporting element in creating an environment
to improve the workers' discipline, pride and solidarity".

"Building a corporate culture among employees or work ethic
among civil servants should come before the requirement to wear
uniforms," he told the Post.

According to Sartono, co-founder of Persodata, a human
resources consultancy firm, the government has failed to reach
such objectives because it failed to create a positive work ethic
among civil servants.

"Do our civil servants have good discipline? Do they feel
proud to wear a uniform? That will remain a question until the
government evaluates the necessity of wearing uniforms," he
added.