Increase civil servants' earnings!

Increase civil servants' earnings!

From Suara Karya

I am a pensioner of the IV/E category (the top rank in the
civil service) and my monthly pension is Rp 360,000 to support my
family -- one wife, and two kids who are still in university.
Such a meager income is enough only for two weeks of a modest
life-style. Luckily we own a house of our own, so we don't have
to pay rent. Imagine how civil servants (including armed forces
members) whose rank is lower than mine manage on such small
incomes? Isn't the government going to consider their
circumstances?

Civil servants are supposed to serve the public, but in
practice, it is the other way around. The community has to pay an
extra fee to get things done. This obviously only tarnishes the
civil servants' image and deflates their morale.

Meanwhile prices of commodities continue to increase and the
government has no power to control the situation. It is said that
the economic growth continues to improve, but the earnings of
Indonesian civil servants are the lowest among ASEAN countries,
even lower than the Philippines whose economy is worse than
Indonesia. The economic gap between the private sector and civil
servants is widening. This is not healthy, it leads to social
jealousy, inferiority complexes, frustration and low morale.

Employment opportunities are still scarce, so whenever there
is a vacancy for any civil job, thousands apply. Their only
encouraging philosophy is "better something than nothing."
Because once they get the job, they hope to get extra money from
using their authority.

The government could improve the welfare of civil servants by
giving an extra one-month salary in connection to the coming Idul
Fitri, and also salary raises of at least 20 percent.

SUHARSONO H

Jakarta