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)