Smart Work by Civil Servants to Realise Asta Cita

Jakarta (ANTARA) – “State officials are the frontline of public service.” This is an expression we may often hear. Yet behind this seemingly simple phrase lies a much deeper meaning about how the state is present in, and experienced by, society.

In everyday life, people most often encounter the state through officials who provide services, implement government programmes, manage policies and make decisions that directly affect the public interest. It is therefore undeniable that the quality of the state apparatus ultimately determines the quality of the state’s presence, including the success of implementing the government’s priority programmes.

Before we know it, the Prabowo Subianto administration will have completed two years in office since his inauguration on 20 October 2024. Two years is certainly not a short time. During this period, the government has faced various challenges, from global economic uncertainty and shifts in the geopolitical landscape to a range of domestic issues requiring policy responses that are rapid, precise and measured.

Two years in office is also enough time to begin assessing how a political vision is translated into public policy. The measure of a government’s success lies not merely in the number of programmes it formulates, but in the state’s ability to turn its political agenda into policies with clear direction, budgetary support, implementation mechanisms and an impact that the public can feel.

At every stage of public policy, state officials occupy an irreplaceable position. When a government priority is formulated, it is underpinned by an extensive technocratic process: planning, drafting regulations, budgeting, inter-agency coordination, programme implementation, oversight and evaluation. Even after a policy has been adopted, the bureaucracy’s work is not over; officials must ensure that it is genuinely implemented and benefits the public.

There is a saying in the bureaucracy worth remembering: “It must not merely be sent; it must be ensured that it is delivered.” The important message is that the success of a government programme should not be measured solely by the completion of administrative procedures, but by the extent to which the policy produces a real impact.

Every priority programme must go beyond documents, reports and administrative indicators. It must reach communities at the grassroots, bring them tangible benefits, generate multiplier effects for the economy, create opportunities and ultimately contribute to improved welfare. In other words, bureaucratic success is measured not only by whether a programme has been carried out, but by whether it works and brings about change for the public.

From central government to local administrations, civil servants work across many areas of public service. They are present in schools, community health centres, hospitals, village and sub-district offices, administrative service agencies and other institutions that deal directly with the public. They also serve on the front line of disaster recovery and provide assistance to communities. It is in these places that state policy takes its most tangible form.