House Commission II Chief Slams Civil Servant Mentality: 'Clock In, Drink Coffee, Go Home'
The House of Representatives’ Commission II has urged for the key performance indicators (KPI) of the state civil apparatus (ASN) to be strengthened in order to improve the quality of their work output. The commission highlighted that the mentality of some civil servants remains a serious concern.
This was conveyed by the Chairman of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Muhammad Rifqinizamy Karsayuda, during a working meeting with the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, the National Civil Service Agency, the National Institute of Public Administration, and other related parties at the parliament complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
“Going forward, we, along with the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform and all of you present in this room, need to improve the KPIs for our entire bureaucracy, our ASN, whether they are civil servants or government employees with work agreements,” Rifqinizamy stated.
He further highlighted that ASN employees are not competitive when compared to their private-sector counterparts. He stressed that if ASN members fail to meet their KPIs, there must be consequences.
“This is our collective homework. We have already included it in the upcoming National Legislation Programme for the ASN Bill. We need to think about this: the private sector can be competitive, so why can’t civil servants? ASN should no longer be a symbol of mere stability,” he said.
“People work based on KPIs. If they perform well, we retain them; if not, they are out. This is currently a burden in the regions,” he added.
The NasDem Party politician also criticised the fact that digitalisation has not led to improved performance. He argued that the mentality of the human resources has not changed despite technological advancements.
“The digital ecosystem hasn’t changed, the mentality of the human resources hasn’t changed. They still just clock in, drink coffee, go home, and clock in again in the afternoon,” he remarked.
Furthermore, Rifqinizamy raised concerns about the heavy burden of personnel expenditure on regional budgets, which he said could reduce the allocation for other essential public services.
“If we keep maintaining this, we are humanising the ASN, including PPPK members, but on the other hand, we are being cruel to the people who are in greater need. Schools cannot be repaired, healthcare cannot be managed, and damaged roads cannot be fixed,” he concluded.