Parliament queries urgency of training thousands of civil servants as reserve components
A member of the Commission II of the House of Representatives, Indrajaya, has called on the government to clarify the rationale for involving civil servants (ASN) in reserve component (Komcad) training. According to the PKB politician, national defence spirit should not compromise the independence of civil servants and their focus on public service delivery.
To avoid perceptions of militarisation of the bureaucracy, Indrajaya has urged the government to transparently explain the objectives and curriculum of the training. According to him, the public has the right to know whether the training focuses on discipline and crisis management, or is genuinely aimed at military defence aspects.
“Modern defence today is no longer merely about weaponry, but also about readiness and the quality of human resources,” said Indrajaya in a written statement on Friday, 27 February 2026.
Indrajaya noted that the discussion of civil servant training has been ongoing and has a clear legal basis, referring to Law Number 23 of 2019 on Managing National Resources for State Defence. He believes the policy indeed opens space for citizen participation in reserve component training.
Nevertheless, he is convinced that the public needs adequate explanation as to why this policy needs to be implemented now, given the current national situation. Especially given President Prabowo Subianto’s efforts to cut budgets, the financing scheme of the Komcad training programme warrants questioning.
“The public has the right to know how this programme’s budget is allocated and what its success parameters are. It should not be the case that on one hand the government speaks of efficiency, whilst on the other it opens space for new wastage,” he said.
Indrajaya has proposed that civil servant training be focused on strengthening public service delivery capacity, non-military national resilience, and improving response to emergency situations such as disasters. According to him, the effectiveness of reserve components is not determined solely by the number of participants, but by clarity of doctrine, consistency of training, integration with systems, transparent governance, and sustained budget support.
According to Indrajaya, strengthening defence and public service must proceed in tandem and in balance. “The state must be strong, the bureaucracy must be professional, and the people must feel safe and well-served.”
Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin stated that 4,000 civil servants from ministries and agencies in Jakarta will be enrolled as reserve components. The programme is scheduled to begin in the first semester of 2026.
Sjafrie explained that involving civil servants as reserve components aims to foster nationalism and love of country in their service to the state. He noted that civil servants aged 18-35 will participate in various basic military training. After completing the training, the civil servants will be returned to their respective agencies and institutions to continue their service.
Sjafrie assured that civil servants who have become reserve components will not be projected to replace the duties of the Indonesian National Armed Forces as the spearhead of national security. Head of the Reserve Component Centre of the National Reserve Agency of the Defence Ministry, Brigadier Hengki Yuda Setiawan, stated that civil servants participating in reserve component training will receive an allowance of 1.8 million rupiah.
The senior officer of the army noted that this allowance is indeed smaller compared to reserve component training for non-civil servant members of the public. The reason is that civil servant reserve component training is shorter than standard reserve component training, which is conducted over three months.