Government Prepares Three Schemes for PPPK Salary Payments

Minister of Home Affairs Muhammad Tito Karnavian stated that the government has prepared three schemes to support regional governments in ensuring the salary payments of Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK) are met and that no employees are laid off. “We have conducted exercises in several regions, we have met with the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform, and also with the Minister of Finance. Our principle is that there must be no option for these PPPK employees to be laid off, let alone become unemployed; their salaries must be paid,” Tito said after a Coordination Meeting on the Continuation of PPPK and Teacher Civil Servant Status at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, Monday (10/8).

Tito explained that the first scheme regional governments must undertake is budget efficiency through reductions in official travel, unnecessary meetings, and food and beverage spending. Secondly, if a regional government has outstanding revenue-sharing funds (DBH) that have not been paid or have been underpaid by the central government, these funds will be disbursed to help cover personnel expenditure. Thirdly, if efficiency measures have been implemented but the regional government is still unable to meet personnel spending, and the DBH received is unavailable or relatively small, the central government will provide additional General Allocation Fund (DAU) support. “I think this is a policy from the President who pays great attention to fiscal issues in the regions, especially to pay mandatory expenses, namely personnel spending,” he said.

Tito added that based on the Minister of Finance Decree Number 198 of 2026 concerning the Adjustment of DAU Allocation and Distribution Details for 2026, the distribution of DBH underpayments up to 2024, and the distribution of Treasury Deposit Facility funds in 2026, the total additional or support from the central government to the regions reached Rp18.9 trillion. Of this amount, approximately Rp10 trillion is DBH paid to the regions, while more than Rp8 trillion comes from additional DAU. “With this addition, we all hope this can resolve the issue of personnel spending, both for PPPK and part-time workers, to be financed and paid by their respective regional governments,” he clarified.

Meanwhile, specifically regarding educators and teachers, the Home Affairs Minister explained that the central government can take steps to address the issue. One option is to transfer the status of teachers to become central government civil servants (ASN), who can then be placed in regions experiencing teacher shortages so that the distribution of educators is more equitable. “We are currently conducting an exercise on this. I also explained earlier that this will certainly ease the burden on regional governments, particularly in reducing personnel spending,” said the Home Affairs Minister.

Responding to the government’s commitment, Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) Rifqinizamy Karsayuda welcomed the government’s policy to prevent PPPK from being laid off due to financing difficulties, stating it aligns with Commission II’s recommendations. “The government’s policy today is consistent with several meetings at Commission II which recommended relaxing the policy on the efficiency of central-to-regional financial transfers,” Rifqi told reporters in Jakarta, Tuesday (12/8). He expressed hope that the policy could be consistently implemented so that the burden on regional budgets (APBD) for paying personnel spending can be resolved. Furthermore, Commission II also agreed with the option opened by the Ministry of Home Affairs for PPPK teachers, education personnel, and health workers to be taken over by the central government, thereby making basic health and education services the authority of the central government, including the salary burden.