Govt refuses to raise civil servants' pay
Govt refuses to raise civil servants' pay
JAKARTA (JP): The government will not increase the salaries of
the nation's civil servants, despite increased living costs
caused by the recent economic crisis, State Minister of
Administrative Reforms T.B. Silalahi said here yesterday.
Asked by journalists whether the nation's 4.1 million civil
servants, many struggling to make ends meet, were due for a pay
rise, Silalahi said that they should count themselves lucky.
Speaking during a break in a hearing with the House of
Representatives, Silalahi said civil servants should reflect on
the suffering in some parts of the country rather than demand
more money.
"Civil servants are people's servants. If the people are
suffering (from the economic crisis), civil servants should
suffer along with the people.
"Look at those people in Irian Jaya who are facing famine,
also please be aware of the same occurrence in Kalimantan and
other parts of our country which are facing the same plight,"
said Silalahi, a retired Army lieutenant general.
Silalahi said that increases in the cost of living following a
rise in the price of basic commodities was no reason for civil
servants to demand higher salaries.
"In 1945, all of our people bore the nation's burdens
together," he said. "All of us suffered to fight the colonials."
"There is no reason why we can't do the same now," he added.
Silalahi called on civil servants to refrain from showing off
"in all their activities", and said they should take the lead in
promoting a simple way of living. President Soeharto encouraged
the idea of simple living in his 1974 and 1994 decrees.
Asked whether a failure to improve civil servants' pay would
increase the likelihood of corruption, Silalahi said civil
servants must not diminish the quality of their public service
despite the hardship.
"Civil servants must keep serving the people," he said
"Those who can't and keep demanding a pay rise are not civil
servants at all and that means that their motivation to be a
civil servant was always for money in the first place. They will
never understand that people are suffering."
The last pay rise was in May, when salaries of those in the
highest grades rose by an average 34.4 percent and those in the
lowest grade rose by 73 percent.
The lowest increase, by 33 percent, was for employees on the
highest grade (IV), raising the monthly salary of an official
with 32 years of service from Rp 537,600 to Rp 722,500.
In terms of salary, civil servants are classified into four
grades: I, II, III and IV with each grade divided into four
strata -- a, b, c and d -- except Grade IV which has five strata
-- a, b, c, d and e.
The lowest strata is I-a (entry level for workers with primary
education) and the highest IV-e.
Elementary and junior high school graduates joining the civil
service start at grade I. Senior high school graduates and
university graduates with bachelor degrees start at group II and
those with higher degrees at grade III.
Civil servants also get family and food allowances as well as
for their administrative position. (aan)