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.