Government still undecided on civil servants' wages
JAKARTA (JP): Senior government officials stressed on Tuesday that no definite decision had been taken on raising civil servants' wages as earlier reported.
State Minister of Administrative Reform Ryaas Rasyid asserted that the government had yet to decide on the matter: "So far, the government has yet to make a decision on whether it will raise civil servants' wages or not."
Nevertheless he conceded that it was being considered in a bid to reduce corruption in the bureaucracy.
"Civil servants' wages are very low and they must be raised to make their wages closer to their daily minimum requirements. Civil servants' purchasing power must be improved to eliminate corrupt practices in the bureaucracy," he said.
But separately on Tuesday head of the National Employee Affairs Agency (BKN) Prijono Tjiptoherdanto gave a more positive response that the government was carefully focussing on an equitable system between the top and lower level employees in possible wage hikes for civil servants.
"In the previous system, there was a big gap in (salary increase) percentage between the lower and the upper level, which could be expressed as a ratio of 1:6. Now with an average 15 percent hike, the ratio is around 1:3," Prijono told The Jakarta Post.
Prijono also added that the planned hike will be given to all civil servants by Jan. 1, once President Abdurrahman Wahid signs the presidential decree on the matter.
He also said that the average salary hike will be around 15 percent, not up to 600 percent as previously reported.
"We have a new payroll system in which the basic salary and allowances are being combined. In the previous system, the basic salary and other allowances were separate."
In the old system, the lowest ranking civil servant (IA) receives a total of Rp 415,000 take home pay, he explained.
"With the new system, he or she will get a total of Rp 500,000 per month."
While for the highest ranking civil servant, which is IV E, the previous basic salary was Rp 500,000 plus additional allowances which totaled Rp 1.2 million per month, Prijono said.
"Under the new system, an IVE echelon will get a total of Rp 1.5 million. So with this system there will be an equal distribution among civil servants from the lower to top level," Prijono maintained.
Funds for the planned hike would be taken from the existing state budget, he said.
"With the previous payroll system we spent some Rp 70 trillion for a total of four million civil servants. With the new system we only need an additional two trillion or about Rp 72 trillion."
He further said that his office along with related ministries will also discuss the administrative and salary system for the National Police since they have already separated from the Indonesian Military (TNI).
"Actually the Police should be included as members of the civil service. But since they have different regulations and ranks, there must be special arrangements and regulations."
"So far the Police's payroll has been handled by the Ministry of Defense," Prijono said.
Prijono also stressed the need to increase wages as part of efforts to combat corruption.
"Civil servants deserve better welfare. With the upcoming regional autonomy, only around one million civil servants will stay in Jakarta while the others will be handled by the regions ... so hopefully those in the center can get better salaries," Prijono added. (edt/rms)