Interior Minister Urges Regional Heads to Be Creative in Preventing PPPK Layoffs

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian has urged regional heads to be creative in preventing the termination of employment contracts (PHK) for Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK).

According to Tito, one approach that regional heads can take is to seek local revenues to pay PPPK salaries, rather than solely relying on central government budget transfers to regions (TKD).

“That is the role of regional heads. If it’s just routine work, spending the regional budget, anyone can do it. But how can a regional head have the creativity so that they do not burden the people,” Tito said after a meeting in Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), Jakarta, on Monday (30/3/2026).

Regional heads are also urged to utilise Regional Owned Enterprises (BUMD) as an effort to cover funding shortfalls for paying PPPK.

“And then they can promote MSMEs or businesses in their areas, so that they can thrive and then generate additional own-source revenue (PAD) from there,” Tito said.

According to him, this additional income for own-source regional revenue (PAD) can be a way to prevent PPPK from facing layoffs.

“Well, that can enter into additional PAD. This additional PAD can also cover PPPK payments. There are ways like that,” he said.

“For example, efficiency in meetings, official travels, meals, and attendance allowances. There are regions that can implement efficiencies, and those efficiencies can cover PPPK payments. There are such cases,” he said.

Furthermore, Tito highlighted the issue of Law Number 1 of 2022 on Financial Relations between the Central Government and Regional Governments (HKPD).

In that regulation, it is stated that 30 percent of personnel expenditure from the regional budget will begin to be implemented five years after the law is enacted.

The same regulation also states that the proportion of personnel expenditure can still be adjusted by the relevant minister.

“But there it is mentioned in paragraph 3 that the proportion of personnel expenditure can be adjusted by the minister in charge of finance, meaning the Minister of Finance, after coordinating with the minister, let’s say I shorten it, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister for State Apparatus and Bureaucracy Reform,” Tito said.