Govt to up wages for civil servants, troops
Govt to up wages for civil servants, troops
Rendi A. Witular
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed on Friday to raise the
wages of civil servants and military and police personnel as part
of efforts to boost their professionalism and reduce corruption
within the bureaucracy.
"I have ordered Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar to immediately
follow up on a plan to raise the salaries of civil servants. This
is part of our strategy to reduce misuse of state funds and
improve professionalism," said Susilo during a ceremony at the
National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas).
Low wages have been partly to blame for the widespread
corruption in Indonesia's bureaucracy and law enforcement
institutions, in addition to their low productivity and poor
professionalism.
At present, an entry-level civil servant earns a monthly
salary of Rp 905,400 (less than US$100), while those who have
served for five years earn Rp 1.1 million. On average, civil
servants are given an increase in their monthly salary of only Rp
40,000 per year of service.
However, not all civil servants of the same rank receive the
same amount of take-home pay. This is because different
government departments provide additional allowances.
Including allowances, civil servants working for the Ministry
of Finance, for instance, receive the highest take-home pay
compared to other ministries or state institutions, with an
entry-level employee getting a monthly pay of some Rp 1.8
million.
Still, this is in sharp contrast to the salaries earned by
lawmakers -- who can rake in around Rp 15 million per month,
excluding allowances and incidental income -- and to the salaries
earned by most ordinary workers in the private sector.
An entry-level employee at a mid-size private firm, for
example, might receive Rp 1.5 million per month, with an average
increase in their monthly salary of at least Rp 150,000 for every
year of service.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal
Bakrie said the government was exploring the possibility of
reducing unnecessary expenditure, so that more money could be
allocated to increasing the salaries of civil servants.
"The President has instructed us to seek additional funds to
raise the salaries of civil servants and soldiers. We are
currently trying to cut some expenditure in the 2006 state budget
in order to help fulfill this instruction," said Aburizal.
According to Aburizal, the government would gradually start
raising salaries next year, with first priority going to low-
ranking civil servants and soldiers, while raises for medium- and
high-ranking officials would follow later.
Aburizal, however, refused to the disclose the amount of the
planned salary increase next year.
There is no increase in wages planned for civil servants and
military and police personnel for this year.
At present, there are around 3.6 million civil servants and
1.2 million pensioned civil servants, plus 500,000 military and
police personnel.
In the 2005 state budget, the government has allocated Rp 34.6
trillion for salaries and allowances of civil servants and
military personnel, up by 1 percent compared to that allocated in
the 2004 state budget.