ASN Salaries Cut for PPPK, Commission II of the DPR: Don't Let Public Services Decline

Government employees with Work Agreements (PPPK) line up to collect salaries in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. (Photo: ANTARA)

Member of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Ali Ahmad, highlighted the steps of a number of regional governments (Pemda) to cut the salaries of State Civil Servants (ASN) to avoid layoffs of Civil Servants with Work Agreements (PPPK). He assessed that this extreme step has the potential to reduce the quality of public services in the region.

"We understand that there are fiscal emergencies in a number of regions related to the source of funds for the salaries of PPPK, but if the solution is to cut ASN income by 30 percent, we are afraid that it will trigger dissatisfaction among the apparatus that will affect the quality of regional public services," said Ali Ahmad, Saturday, July 11.

It is known that the reduction of ASN salaries to save PPPK occurred in a number of regions. One concrete example occurred in the Government of Tidore Islands, North Maluku. In order to save the fate and maintain the financing of around 2,000 PPPK personnel from being dismissed, the local government was forced to cut the income of PPPK and the income allowance of all State Civil Servants (ASN) by 30 percent.

Ali Ahmad assessed that this step of cutting income is very risky because it has the potential to lower the morale and motivation of our bureaucracy. If left unchecked, according to Ali, the consequences will clearly affect the quality of public services received by the community.

"This is what we must anticipate, so that service to the people does not weaken," he said.

Therefore, Ali urged the central government to immediately take strategic intervention steps. He asked for a thorough national mapping of the regional fiscal capacity in financing PPPK personnel.

The focus of this mapping, said Ali, must be directed at areas with high fiscal risk profiles, namely areas with bloated employee spending, low Regional Original Income (PAD), and have a very large dependence on central transfer funds.

"This national evaluation and mapping is crucial so that the policy for the appointment of PPPK in the future does not cause a new salary payment crisis. We don't want to see this aparatus income reduction policy as a common practice and be repeated because of inadequate planning," he said.

Furthermore, Ali asked for collaboration across ministries and agencies to formulate systemic long-term solutions. Commission II of the DPR RI urges the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri), the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu), the Ministry of State Apparatus and Bureaucracy Reform (PAN-RB), and the State Civil Service Agency (BKN) to immediately sit together.

"We ask the four institutions to immediately formulate a more sustainable PPPK funding scheme. The central government needs to study the option of explicitly including certain PPPK salary components into the General Allocation Fund (DAU) or other forms of central fiscal support. This intervention is especially needed for areas that objectively do not have adequate APBD capacity," he concluded.