Minister PANRB on PNS Working Near Home: Allowed, But...
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Rini Widyantini has spoken out about a pilot programme by the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) that allows civil servants (ASN) to be stationed closer to their place of residence.
Rini affirmed that the policy may well be implemented, provided the quality of service to the public is not sacrificed. She reminded that, in principle, civil servants must be prepared to be posted wherever their respective agencies require.
“In essence, an ASN must be placed wherever needed. This will certainly be adjusted by the staffing officials of each agency. Of course I would be pleased if employees are also placed closer to their domicile,” Rini said when met at the PANRB Ministry office, quoted by Detikcom on Friday (24/7/2026).
According to Rini, the authority to regulate employee placement remains in the hands of the Staffing Development Official (PPK) in each agency. Nevertheless, she welcomed positively any policy that enables civil servants to work closer to where they live.
However, Rini underlined that proximity to home must not become an excuse for civil servants to slacken their public service obligations. She asked that issues of status and domicile be firmly separated from civil servants’ principal responsibility to serve the public.
“But of course, as ASN we have an obligation to deliver services to the public. So there must be a separation between our duty to serve the public on the one hand, and status and domicile on the other,” she said.
Going forward, Rini assured that the government will continue to attend to civil servants’ welfare, including ease in carrying out their service duties.
“Certainly, going forward we will continue to pay attention to the welfare and convenience of civil servants in delivering services, including how to maintain balance among ASN,” she added.
BKN programme still at trial stage
As background, the programme titled “Closer to Domicile, Closer to Family” is still being trialled internally by the BKN. A number of employees within the BKN Central Office, Regional Offices and Technical Implementation Units (UPT) have been posted closer to their domicile and families.
BKN head Zudan Arif Fakrulloh previously explained that the policy stems from the belief that a balance between family life and work (work-life balance) can drive more optimal employee performance.
Beyond work motivation, Zudan said the programme also improves the household economics of civil servants, as employees no longer bear the double burden of transport and accommodation costs arising from living far from their families.
“For the initial stage, BKN is trialling this programme for BKN civil servants so that employees can perform at a higher level because they feel happier after being reunited with their families. In addition, employees can better manage their finances because they are no longer burdened with transport and accommodation costs from living far away from their families,” Zudan said on Thursday (23/7/2026).